


Family Secrets

by Rona1776



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abandonment Issues, Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Happy Ending, blood mention, cursing, light Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-15 07:39:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15408201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rona1776/pseuds/Rona1776
Summary: Keith knows who he is. He's a paladin of Voltron. But just because he knows who is doesn't mean he's not curious of his own past. There are still things he has no idea about. Especially about his mother. Who was she? Was she also Galra? Was the knife he now has belong to her? If she was an alien why was she on earth? Why was he abandoned by her? One day he finds a file at the Blade’s base. He realizes it has information about an important part of his past. He needs to know more but is being refused information. Now, Keith is determined to found out the truth with or without help.





	1. Hidden

**Author's Note:**

> My fic for the Keith Mini Bang! This was so much fun to write despite all the angst. It ends happy though! Also I'm writing a part 2 for this so look out for that! It wont be 25k which is what this tuned out be.  
> Thanks to my friend Abbey - [Luckythirdshot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luckythirdshot/pseuds/Luckythirdshot) for being my beta for this!  
> Artist is here! [Burr-ell](http://burr-ell.tumblr.com/post/176208752124/the-second-of-my-two-illustrations-for-the)
> 
> This will be split into a few chapters so the whole 25K wont be posted all at once
> 
> You can find the tumblr for the event here! [Keith Mini Bang](http://keithminibang.tumblr.com/)

Keith had always been a person who wanted answers. He never liked things that couldn’t be solved and he hated when people deliberately hid things. It was why he was so furious at the Garrison. He knew that the Garrison was hiding something. There was no pilot error on the Kerberos mission, but they didn't want bad press. Ever since then, he'd been trying to find answers to any question he came across. That was why he wanted to find Shiro, find the Blue Lion, and learn where he truly came from. He told the Blade of Marmora during the trial that it didn't matter where he came from. That he was a Voltron paladin. But still the ache in his chest everytime he looked at his knife is too much to bear. It held his past and he wanted to uncover it. He had no one to ask either. Shiro only knew he had it when they met, and that his dad might know, but he left when he was younger and has no idea where he is. He had no idea who is mother was either. Before he was able to form memories of her, she was out of his life. 

He wished he knew more about his past. About his family. The only memories he had about his father were close to none. Some of them he remembered his dad preparing meals for him to eat before rushing out the door, and returning home almost a week later. He was always tired, bags under his eyes, never smiled, his clothes in a mess. It was like that for a while until one day he just didn’t come home. Keith was only 7 years old and was forced to grow up quickly to take care of himself. He didn’t have his mom around, though, that was when he needed her the most.

After that, Keith wanted to know why she was gone. Why did she leave? Was it because of him? Was he a bad kid? For a long time he had just settled on the fact that she took one look at him and decided she didn't want him and left. Now with his dad abandoning him as well he started to believe it was his fault. It hurt to think about. It hurt to think that his own mom wouldn't want him, but it was the only thing he could think of. Why else would she leave right after his birth? From what he gathered from his dad, she left a month after he was born and left nothing but the knife he had now. His dad had no idea where she was going and she never stated if she would return. She left no photo or any evidence that she even existed.

Without his mother or father around, it was only a matter of time before child services had come. He was immediately taken to a foster home, where he was only allowed to take his clothes with him. All his other belongings they forced him to leave behind. The one thing he smuggled in was his knife. Even as a kid he knew that in the home he was going to, the people in charge would take it from him. It was his only family connection and he needed it to know about his mother.

Every night while the other kids slept, he would duck under his covers and look at the blade. The glowing stone was what he always studied. He never knew what it was, but he knew it wasn't normal for a stone to glow on its own like that. The dark purple stone held a lighter purple symbol in the middle that emanated the light. Keith, every night, tried to research and find out what it was. Unfortunately, he always ended up stuck and wrapped up the blade and hid it under his pillow. His life was like that for 8 years. Constant moving around, family after family rejecting him, asking for the “cute kids”, and all in all having a shitty childhood.

Keith was 15 when he finally decided to run away from foster care. He knew that trying to make it on his own without the constant abuse from his foster parents would be more beneficial to him. He stopped trying to hide his knife, instead hooking it to his back in a sheath he made that connected to his belt. Every now and then he would take it out while hiding behind a dumpster or some other structure and just look at the blade. In some way when he was alone the blade seemed to bring a sort of comfort to him. When he was feeling lost, sometimes he found solace. He knew it was connected to his abandonment, which should have brought him loneliness or even hatred, but it brought the opposite when he needed it in those lonely times.

Keith wandered around from city to city, town to town. He still only had the clothes he kept from when he was taken from his home. It had been years, and eventually these clothes became too small for him. The shirts he had were stretched out and they no longer fit him well. The jeans he wore were tight and stopped above his ankles. His childhood clothes no longer fit him and he needed new ones. He resorted to stealing other people's clothes from clothing lines outside their homes. He made a quick run through a strangers yard and picked up a red jacket the he ended up cutting the bottom off of, simple black shirt and black jeans, and got rid of his old ratty sneakers in exchange for some boots that he, again, stole. It wasn't the best, but it was better than nothing, and when you have nothing you take what you can get.

It was only when he met Shiro that his life turned around. The first time they met, Shiro caught Keith stealing some food from a cart from an unsuspecting seller in an outside marketplace. He had run away to a secluded area and barely started to bite into his stolen meal when Shiro walked up to him. Keith had shied away shielding his food, afraid it would be taken away. Instead he offered to pay for a real meal and help Keith. He could tell that he looked worse for wear. His clothes were getting dirty, he barely could keep up proper hygiene, and Keith was so starved for food that it slipped his mind if he could trust this stranger. 

After that encounter, Shiro had become a constant in his life. However, it took time for him to be let behind Keith's walls. After being left behind by his real parents, abused by his foster parents, and never knowing who he could trust, he was wary of new people. Once he had learned more about Shiro, though, Keith finally had someone to rely on. Shiro encouraged him, helped him out of the streets and into his home. He took care of him when no one else would. He still didn't know why Shiro bad taken a random dirty teenager off the street into his home, but he was happy to finally have a person to rely on.

Through Shiro's encouragement he entered the Garrison not much later. Shiro was a captain. He was in charge of most flight missions. It was here that Keith learned his love of flight. He was taken into the simulator and Shiro gave him a quick lesson on flight just to show him the basics, but Keith fell in love with the flight. Even through the simulator he could almost feel what real flying would be like. He enlisted and quickly became top of class surpassing everyone else. He wanted to fly, wanted to see what else was out there, and maybe find the answers he needed. Everything was perfect. Everything was happening in his favor for once in his life. Everything seemed like he would finally be able to find what he was looking for.

But not everything is what it seems. Before graduating to the next class, the constant in his life went missing. Shiro went missing. The one who kept him stable and the one who took him in and taught him flight was gone. Pilot error, he was told. Keith knew immediately it was bullshit. Shiro was an amazing pilot with two others who were equally as skilled. The Garrison was covering it up. Covering the truth and trying to blame it on the people instead of speaking the truth. He confronted Iverson with rage, yelling about how Shiro and the others couldn't have failed a mission like this. He was so angry at the lies and was blinded by his own rage that he ended up punching Iverson in the eye and blinding him. Unfortunately, he was kicked from the school and had no way of getting information. No way of finding of Shiro. No way of getting answers he desperately needed. The universe was back to make his life hell. 

After being kicked out he was still determined to find answers. He wouldn't stop until he knew the truth. It was the night that he found a little run down shack near the Garrison and found it to be the perfect place to start his search. Holed up in a little shack he found in the desert, he spent a year following a strange signal that was calling to him. He took pictures and hung them up on the wall of the shack hoping to connect something. The signal came from a cave where the walls were covered in lion drawings. Nothing made sense or connected. For entire year he spent his time in the desert or infiltrating the Garrison for anything he could find. He even gave up looking for answers for his blade. In that one year finding the one family that actually cared about him meant more than the one that abandoned him.

After a year of searching and digging, he had finally found Shiro. When a large object had crash landed on Earth he hadn't expected to find Shiro. All he knew was that the Garrison had it and it was probably important if they were trying to keep it private from the rest of the school. He broke into the place and took care of the scientists and ran into three other students who helped him get Shiro out.

It had been Lance, one of the three students, who unlocked the way to way to get to the Blue Lion and activate it. It took them out into space where he continued to meet Allura and Coran. They assigned Lance, Pidge, Hunk, Shiro, and him to their own lions to fight the Galra. Keith, along with everyone else, agreed to the job. He knew this was it. This was how he was going to get the answers he deserved. The answers to his past, his blade, and why he was left behind.

XXXXXX

The hallways in the base of the Blade of Marmora were silent. They were normally in this state; none of the members ever made much noise other than when they were training. Keith didn’t mind the silence, he even enjoyed at times. It was very different from the almost constant noise from the Castle of Lions. There was always some kind of noise going on there. Coran going on about his days when he was younger back in bootcamp, the mice putting on a show for Allura during free time, Lance talking with Hunk while he baked, even Pidge would be making some noise as she built some new machine for Voltron to use.

It was very different at the Blade’s base. No one really interacted or spoke to each other unless it was for information exchange or training. For him he’s only ever spoken to Kolivan or Regis for missions, other than that his interactions with other members were none. Another thing was they all wore their masks even when inside the base. Kolivan explained that it was for if someone hurt or killed you wouldn’t be able to attach a face to them and be able to focus better on a mission. It was cold he had to admit, but he also couldn’t disagree with him. Even so, Keith knew that if it came down to it, it didn’t matter to him if he knew their face or not. If he could save a life and bring them back he would do it without hesitation.

As he walked down the long hallway he passed a room that was dimly lit. Curious, he walked back and saw what he suspected to be the information room. Walking in he noticed multiple holographic screens that could show various documents at once. There was a control panel that spread the width of the room and in the middle of the panel he saw a handprint for identification. He placed his hand on it and immediately the screens lit up letting him access the files in the computer. He knew that the files inside were most likely just mission logs that were completed and information gathered, but he was still curious to see what it had. The Blade was very secretive and he hardly knew anything about the place, so this might be a good way to finally get some insight. 

He started scrolling trying to see if any files could provide any information that he could to help the Blade or Voltron on their joint missions. As he scrolled he wasn’t finding much. It was mostly things he has already read or things that weren’t relevant anymore. He was about to leave when suddenly he started to come across names and the one that caught his eye first was his own. More specifically his last name. It shouldn’t have intrigued him knowing that it was just his own file. He told the Blade everything about him when he joined, but he was still curious. He swiped his finger across the screen to open it and what surprised was that there were two names in the file. One was labeled with his name and the other was labeled “Raye.” Immediately he opened it and felt nervous. Why was this person's name in his file when he didn’t even know who they were?

The very first thing in their file was about them and Keith opened it. It told him everything from her name, age, status in the Blade, and if she was full galra or not. There was a picture of her on the file and when he looked at it, his chest tightened. She was wearing the full Blade of Marmora suit and her hair was a bright white that was braided behind her back. She had a thin scar running down her right cheek. Her eyes were fully yellow like many galra he had seen while in space, but she was different than the rest. Even though in the picture her face held no emotion, she looked as though she hadn’t experienced as many of the horrors of war yet. It must have been when she first joined. But what was most jarring to Keith is that she looked almost like him. They had the same face shape, eyes and mouth.

“What…?” He went to see the other files she had opened up “missions”. In this it had all the missions that she had completed or were progress. He opened up completed and he was met with a log that she had written. There were a few missions that were dated back many years ago that she had done that he held no interest in. What he was interested in was one that was titled with the year 1997, and it appeared to be her first solo mission on Earth.

‘Mission Log 1: I have landed on planet Earth in accordance with the instructions for my mission. I will start looking for the Blue Lion and try to learn its whereabouts before Zarkon’s army finds and gets ahold of it. Intel by allies says that the Blue Lion is somewhere in the Milky Way Galaxy. I need to find it, retrieve it, and bring it back to the base so that Zarkon cannot get a hold of it. Voltron cannot fall into the hands of the enemy.’

She had been on Earth. She had been looking for the Blue Lion. It still didn’t tell him what he hoped it was but all he needed was to read a few more files to find out. He had a feeling. A feeling that he hadn't had in a long time. If this was his mother, he was going to find out and go look for her. He wanted answers about so many things. Mainly why did she leave him. If this log belonged to her did she leave because the mission was over? Why didn’t she stay then or take him with her? Why would she abandon her child on Earth without even giving an explanation as to why? He’s been so hurt for so many years and now he finally had a chance to know.

“Keith.” Keith looked away from the computer and saw Kolivan standing in the doorway of the room. “You are not allowed in here.” He walked in straight towards him, most likely to shut down the computer and take Keith out of the room. Keith glared at Kolivan his anger building up.

“Why wasn’t I told about this person? She’s on my file so she’s obviously connected to me. I think I have a right to know who it is.” He stood straight up intent on getting answers. Kolivan didn’t answer him. Instead he pushed Keith aside and put his hand on the panel which shut down the computer. The screens went back down making Keith unable to read anything more on the file.

“You do not have clearance to look through any files in here. What do you think you were doing exactly?” He was much taller than Keith and was intimidating without even trying.

“I was able to access no problem. I think I’m allowed to learn more about the people I’m working with. Besides, why am I not able to read files especially when there’s one that obviously connected to me? I have a right to know about this woman and I don’t know why you’re trying to keep it a secret from me.”

“You only need to know what we tell you. You are not allowed to sneak into our databases like this. Now head back to your quarters. That’s an order.” Keith continued to glare but eventually left. He knew that he would get nowhere fighting Kolivan like this. Keith was going to back in that room. He had to know. There was still so much that he needed to see, and from Kolivan’s reaction he knew that the Blade wasn’t going to tell him anything.

When Keith got back to his room he sat down on his bed and started to think. He didn’t get to read much on what he saw so he couldn’t make much much sense of it. However, he wanted to believe that the women he read was his mother. He wanted to believe it so much. The thought of actually finding after so many years finally seemed plausible. He was so close and he wasn’t going to let any closed lipped Blades keep him from finding his family. His blade had gotten him closer to the truth on who he was, but actually finding his mother would give him the closure and the answers that he had been desperately searching for.

Keith reached behind him and took out his blade. Before, looking at it he was so confused, knowing it held something about him that he didn’t know. He found only half the answers when he went through the trials. Looking down at the blade that he knows is hers, he feels that just with a little more research, he could find the answers that he needs. Tomorrow he told himself, he was going to go back into that room. He doesn’t care if he gets caught again all he needs is to get enough information on what he needs and get out. With that in mind and being ordered to stay in here, he put his blade away under his pillow and laid back down on his bed to go to sleep. He was ready to get some answers.

Tomorrow had come quickly. Apparently Kolivan had figured that Keith would try and sneak away back to information room because he did everything he could to keep him occupied. He went through rigorous training that keep him busy for hours, that he barely got a break to catch his breath. Even when given a break, Kolivan was watching him like a hawk as if he moved his eyes away for a second Keith would be gone. In his defense he wasn’t totally wrong. Keith himself was trying to find an opening for him to leave. He had been up all day from the early morning to now nearing late afternoon. He hadn’t been able to eat or have a chance to slow down since he got up. All day was a rigorous training and with exhaustion and lack of food, Keith was starting to run on fumes. For him it felt almost like he was back in the trials and he had barley held up during those.

“Start again!” Kolivan voice boomed from the side of the training deck. Keith was surrounded by three other Balde members all wielding their own blades. Keith took his starting position, eyes moving around the three to see who would move first. He was tired but he was still going to move forward and fight. He wasn’t going to let his tiredness win out during this fight.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the small movement of one of their shoulders and immediately Keith brought his sword up to block the attack. The loud clang of metal on metal rang out in the training room. Keith pushed them back with the sword and gave himself just enough room to block a second attack from behind him before dodging out of the way from a third attack. In this training cycle he wasn’t given much time to think. Attack after attack was thrown at him trying to find a weak point in him and exploiting it. Unfortunately for Keith, his hunger and exhaustion was doubling up on him causing him to trip in his movements and he was kicked in the gut and sent flying a few feet back. He landed and the air was knocked out of his lungs. Training was halted as he tried to get up on his knees and get air back into his lungs. He clutched his stomach and saw Kolivan walk up to him. He gathered enough of the strength he had to stand up and face him.

“You do realize what I’m trying to do here, right?” He asked Keith. He had his arms folded behind his back in his usual stance as he looked down at him.

“I know exactly what it is. You’re trying to keep me from that room I was in. You wouldn’t have to if you just told me what was in there since it had information connected to me.” Keith was trying to keep his composure as he glares up at Kolivan. His anger from being outnumbered and constantly beat up all day was taking a toll on him. His head was dizzy from lack on food and water and all to keep him from reading a few files that he didn’t know why were kept so secret in the first place.

Kolivan sighed. “I told you yesterday. The only things you need to know is what we tell you. There is no reason for you to go digging in the files. And I hope you weren’t planning on sneaking in there again today. You have been blocked from any and all access to the computer databases unless you have been given direct access from me.”

“What?!” Keith’s anger flared. “You can’t do that!”

“Yes, I can. You went against the Blade by going into that computer. You will be prevented from having all access to that room or its information unless I am there with you and permit what you can and cannot access.” Keith kept his glare. He couldn’t believe he was put on a lock down like some sort of child. However, that only made him more curious as to what they were hiding from him. “In addition, you are relieved from training for today. I suggest you go and eat. Someone will escort you to kitchen. Dismissed.” He turned and walked away from Keith as another Blade member came up next to him, presumably to lead him to the kitchen.

“I don’t need to be led to kitchen. I’ll be fine on my own.” He started walking away ignoring when they said they were ordered to be near him. It was humiliating but he wasn’t going to be led around and watched like this. It seemed overboard for something so small that he did.

He was followed to entire way to the kitchen. Did they really think that he was going to try and sneak away in this condition? Kolivan made it pretty hard for him to do anything other than go get some food before he dragged himself back to his room. He wanted to go, but his limbs felt heavy from use and his stomach was hurting from more than just hunger now. He quickly grabbed something and sat down at one of the tables in the kitchen. There were multiple long ones to fit many of the Blade members in the base. When Keith first saw them he was reminded of the long tables that you would see in the lunch rooms back on Earth.

As he started eating he was trying to think of a way to get back in and get what he needed. He was blocked from all access so just putting his hand on the panel like before wasn’t going to work again. The only way he could think of was by hacking but he didn’t know how to do that. Wait. Keith stopped for a minute. Hacking. Maybe Pidge could help him. She could hack into the data bases and just get what he needed. It wouldn’t be hard considering how they’ve done it to multiple Galra ships before. The only thing he would need to do is persuade her. He wasn’t sure if she’d agree, considering she’d be hacking into an ally’s databases. However, maybe if he convinced her it was to find his family she might be inclined to do so. He needed her help, and he knew it. He knew the Blade wasn’t going to help him any so he would enlist the help of his friends. He knew that there was a chance that she would say no and he would be on his own again. But he didn’t care. If he had to do this on his own he would. He was done with the coverups, done with lies, and done with the Blade. He deserved answers and was going to get them one way or another.


	2. Finding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Keith asks for Pidge's help they didnt realize the consequences that would come from their actions.  
> Also an unlikely person comes to help them in their mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh this chapter is a lot longer.  
> I was having a hard time trying to find a good stopping point since this was originally never supposed to be separated into chapters. I did the best I could, so I apologize for the length.

The next day Keith set out on his way to the Castle of Lions. He wasn’t going to get anywhere in the base so he decided to head back to his old home. He snuck out of his room early before he was woken up for another hellish day of “training” and went into the pod docks. He picked the fastest one he could and hopped in. He knew as soon as he left he wouldn't be part of the Blade and he would be turning his back on one of the strongest allies against Zarkon. In reality it was a stupid idea to do this. They were helping the coalition and making it stronger, but he couldn’t be a part of something that was actively hiding things from him. He was reminded of the Garrison and how they kept information from him and Pidge’s family. They knew what had actually happened and kept it secret. He couldn’t be a part of something like that again.

When Keith jumped in the ship he started it up and opened the docking door and put on full thrusters. In seconds he was out the door and aiming for the opening between the black holes. He knew the path perfectly now from constantly having to fly through it so it was no problem for him to get out. He was soon out of the base’s range and headed for the Castle of Lions. He wasn’t going to contact them just yet. He didn’t want Allura or anybody on the ship to tell them where he was. It was best if he just came back and hoped they wouldn’t let it slip that he was there.

He had the coordinates of where they were. The Blade was constantly being updated on where Voltron was at all times in the case that they needed backup. Keith punched in the coordinates of the Castle and it showed that they were a few galaxies away. During times like this was when he missed the instant wormholing that the castle had. It would take him a few days but he suspected as much. Even with full blasters it wasn’t as fast as the castle or one of the blade’s better ships. This was the fastest thing he could get without stealing one of their larger ones. He packed enough food just in the case that he needed to or had to hide out for a few days.

This did give Keith enough time to form what he was going to say. He wasn’t sure going up to all of them and announcing that he ditched the Blade and now needed Pidge’s help to hack into their systems would go over very well. He just needed only Pidge to know that and try to convince her, not the entire team. He knew Allura would not approve and probably yell him for doing something so stupid. He did need to tell them that he left. He doesn’t have to give the whole truth, just enough to tell them that he left. Even if he was found by them he wasn’t going to stay for long anyway. Just enough to for help to gather info from the base.

That was for when he go there though. As for right now his focus was actually getting to the Castle without the Blade knowing. He thought by now that they have finally noticed he was gone and one of their ships was missing. When he left he made the decision that he was no longer a Blade. He was suddenly hit with a feeling of relief but also frustration. He went with the Blade to find more about himself and his family, but instead he was met with lies and deceit. Since this was the only place he could find answers and he was now leaving it, he was frustrated. However, he also knew that the longer he stayed there the further he was from getting answers. He’d only been gone from the base for only a short time but the feeling was a relief to be away.

“Okay, how am I going to do this? How am I going to convince Pidge to help me? I'm sure she had other more important projects going on to help Voltron. I don't even know what they've been doing since I was gone. I'm basically a stranger to them now.” Keith sighed. He’d been away from them for so long he wasn’t certain if they even wanted to see him. He did leave them alone on refugee missions when he was flying the black lion before he left for the Blade. And he wasn't a very good leader to begin with either. “I have to at least try. I'll find another way to get the information if she says no.”

Keith continued on. It felt like ages just sitting in one position as he followed the map he set up. The blinking light for the Castle of Lions was so far away from where he was. It would take ages to get there. Usually, he wouldn't mind the alone time and the silence, but this was just kind of numbing. Especially when he was seeing the same black nothingness for hours at a time. After being out in space for a few years, the view got kinda repetitive. Even aliens were nothing to be surprised at. The last most interesting thing he saw were the giant plant machines on Olkari. Other than that, most things he'd seen in space were pretty tame.

It was another few hours before the blinking on his map sounded quicker. Instead of the blinking every few seconds, it was more rapid, like he was getting closer to the castle. He started looking around for a giant white ship in the middle of the black space. That was when he saw it. A small white speck in the distance caught his eye. He saw the white ship with its trail of blaster behind it. Relief washed over him immediately. He pushed the controls further forward trying to reach them faster. He wanted on the ship as soon as possible. And it was probably a good idea to get ahold of them now so they know he was there and to let him in.

He opened up a video call to the castle and he was immediately put through. Everyone was in the bridge and they were all in their casual clothes while sitting in their chairs. When he saw them Keith realized just how much he missed them. He usually saw glimpses of them at the blade when they were making plans with each other, but never got to say a proper hello. Seeing them now and knowing in just a few short minutes he was going to be in front of them made him happy.

_“Keith!”_ They all smiled when he came up on the screen. _“We all missed you! Where have you been?”_ Pidge was the first one to ask.

“Ah just Blade missions. I’m coming back to the team for a while now.”

_“Really? I hadn’t gotten a message from Kolivan saying that you were heading our way.”_ Keith saw Allura pulling up her holoscreen, probably trying to see if she missed a message from him. Keith knew there wouldn’t be. He knew this would be the hard part of sneaking around Allura and lying to her about leaving the Blade. Well, here came his first lie.

“That’s strange. He sent one to you yesterday about me coming to you guys. I guess it must have gotten lost in sending.” He hoped his lie was believable. He felt relief when Allura closed the holoscreen and smiled at him.

_“I suppose so. Well I’m glad you are back Keith. Let me open the docking area up for you so can land and we can talk more in the bridge.”_ Keith nodded and closed the video feed. He sat back in his seat with a relieved sigh. He was finally at the ship, he could finally start on finding his mom. WIth the resources the ship had and Pidge he was confident in his mission.

Keith saw the docking port open up and he gratefully landed. Leaving the ship, he saw Shiro and Hunk standing there waiting for him. They smiled at him and he couldn’t help to show a small one back. Shiro was the first one to bring him into a hug, followed by Hunk.

“We really missed you, buddy! We’re glad you’re back with us! Do you know how long you’ll be here?” Hunk asked as he pulled back from the hug.

“Ah, I’m not sure. Kolivan just gave me a mission and told me to get some data from a galra base. Its heavily guarded but he said if I can get the data without having to go in the base itself it would be best.”

“Well you know we’re here if you need us.” Shiro smiled. Normally he would have felt comforted by Shiro’s help but right now all he felt was shame for lying right to his face. 

“Do you guys know where Pidge is? Kolivan said I might need her help for the mission.”

“She’s still in the bridge with everyone else. We can go there and you can explain to everyone the mission. That way we’re all caught up and come up with a plan for you.” Keith had to contain his sigh. He just wanted to get Pidge and leave. He still didn’t know what to do if she said no. No one else had her level of computer skills necessary to do what he needed.

The walk to the bridge was short, and when the doors opened he saw the rest of the team turn towards him. They all looked happy to see him, just like in the video. 

“Keith, why don’t you explain your mission to everyone? I assume it was in the message that Kolivan sent, but like you said it probably got lost in sending.”

“Oh um, well, it’s just a basic data retrieval mission. It shouldn't take too long. Just a few days for travel. I was sent here because our members are spread too thin. Kolivan thought it would be easier to ask for Voltron’s help. I really only need Pidge’s help if you’re not too busy?” He turned towards her.

“No not really. I was only doing basic scans around the castle to make sure everything is still running okay.”

“Great.” Keith smiled.

“When will you be starting your mission Keith?” Allura asked. 

“I’d like to start as soon as possible. I was thinking tomorrow morning I could get everything ready and then head out.”

“Alright. Do you know which planet you need to start at? I’d be happy to wormhole you there to make your first trip shorter.” Oh no. This is where he needed Pidge’s help. He couldn’t get into their information room to even know where to start. He needed to come up with a lie fast.

“Thanks Allura. I haven’t looked at the files yet. I was too busy flying here to take time to look at them. I’ll let you know tomorrow though.”

She nodded, taking his lie as truth. After that she asked if there was anything else they needed to know, after he told her no she dismissed them. Most of them left the room and Keith saw Pidge leaving and caught up with her.

“Hey, Pidge, wait!” She stopped and turned around. “I need to talk to you. It’s about the mission. Is… is there somewhere else to talk? There’s something I couldn't tell the rest of the team…” Pidge looked at him confused and a little bit concerned but she nodded. She told him to follow her and she led them to the Green Lion’s hanger. 

“So what exactly couldn't you tell the rest of the team?” She crossed her arms and Keith could tell she wanted a good reason to keep something from the rest of the team. He couldn’t blame her. He’d want a good reason as well to keep information from everyone else.

“Here’s the thing, I’m not with the Blade of Marmora anymore. I left them. And this mission wasn’t something they assigned me.”

“What?! You left the Blade?! They’re our biggest ally in this fight! Why did you leave them?”

“I had to! They were keeping too many secrets from me and I was sick of it. Normally I wouldn’t care as long as I had enough info about a mission to be able to complete it. But after what I found, and how they locked me out I couldn’t help it. I had to leave. I was only going to get the information I needed and figure everything out along the way. I’m sorry I lied to you and everyone else, but I knew Shiro and Allura would disapprove of what I was doing.”

He saw Pidge sigh and shake her head. “Exactly what were they hiding from you? I know you usually make impulsive decisions, but the Blade was important to you. It must’ve been pretty bad for you to just up and leave like that.”

“They lied to me about my family. My mom was part of the Blade. They never told me and tried to keep that information secret when I found out who she was.” He saw her pause. Her eyes were widened by shock for a second before she relaxed some.

“The reason you were with the Blade was to hopefully find out more about your past. To understand yourself better. The fact that they withheld that from you intentionally…” Her crossed arms tightened around her more. “You said you needed my help. Exactly what did you need help with?” Keith held his breath. She still hadn't said “yes" but he was sure that he could convince her now.

“I need you to help me get those files from their databases. I wasn't able to get them myself before I left. I was watched every minute and locked out of the information room. You're the only person I know that get into their databases without leaving a trace. We don't even need to go into the base, if you can find a way to create and signal and get the files that way we can just leave before they detect we were even there.”

Pidge looked away and thought for a moment, probably thinking over the plan and the consequences that came with it. Finally she looked back up at Keith with determination. “Okay. Let's do it. We’ll take the Green Lion since she has the cloaking abilities. They won't be able to see her so hopefully they won't know we’re there when we get those files.”

Keith let himself relax and breath a sigh of relief. He thanked her with a big smile.

“No need to thank me. You want to find your family. I know the feeling all too well, so I'm happy to help you.” she smiled at him before turning to her computer. “I'm going to start working on a signal strong enough to get into the Blade’s databases. I should have it by morning so just go and rest, okay?”

Keith agreed with a nod before leaving the hanger. He went straight to his old room and when he entered it looked exactly the same. Of course he didn't have a lot of things to bring to the base that seemed important. His red jacket hanging on a hook by the dood and his boots were there where he left them. He also had two or three gifts from aliens from planets they saved. Other than that, his room was completely barren of anything. To him this was normal. As a kid he was always moving place to place, so why have so many items when you know you'll be moving again soon? Just keep the essentials. That kept with him even after Shiro took him in. It was just habit at that point and he saw no reason to break it. It came in handy when they left earth and came to the castle. Everyone else was sad about something that they left at home, meanwhile Keith didn't really have anything that he wanted that was back home. He transitioned very well without a lot of things.

Keith signed and went to his closet in the room. He wanted to get rid of the Blade uniform. It wasn't like he needed it anymore. He took the armor prices off along with his blade. Then he took off the bodysuit and grabbed his old clothes to change into. His gloves, black shirt, and black skinny jeans. To say it felt more comfortable than what he had been forced to wear the past few months would be an understatement. Keith grabbed his dagger again and walked to his bed. He was tired and wanted to rest. He was going to need it tomorrow when he and Pidge went to the base. He slid his dagger under the pillow and pulled up the sheet that was folded at the end of bed to his chest. When he closed his eyes sleep immediately came to him.

XXXXXX

Keith woke up early the next day. He sat up in bed and put on his boots and then grabbed his jacket off the hook before heading out. His first stop was the Green Lions hanger to see if Pidge was there and had finished the signal. It didn't take long to reach and when he went in he saw her on her laptop like usual. When she looked up and saw him she got up from her spot on the floor.

“Perfect timing. I was just about to come get you.” She walked towards him laptop in hand.

“You didn't stay up all night did you?” He knew she had a tendency to do that. He just hoped that she got some sleep instead of forcing herself to stay awake for a selfish mission of his. “If the signal was going to be that hard to make I would've waited longer.”

“What? No, the signal was easy! I made in a few hours after you went to your room. I was just going to come get you and say everything's ready. We can leave whenever you want.”

“Okay great. I'll get ready then. Allura wanted to know where to wormhole us so I'll just give her the galaxy that the Blades base is in. That should get us close enough without them spotting us.”

“Okay, that's a good idea. I'll get this signal uploaded into Green. Just meet me back here when you're ready.” Pidge turned around and walked to the Green Lion who already opened their mouth to let Pidge walk inside. He saw the eyes light up before he left himself. He first went and put on his old armor. It still looked clean like someone had been taking care of it while he was gone. He had a small feeling of warmth in his chest that someone actually took the time to care for his things. Like they thought he would come back.

After that he went to the bridge where Allura was thankfully there. She turned her head slightly and smiled when she saw Keith and turned around fully to face him. 

“Keith! I see that you have your paladin armor on.” He saw her smile turn soft at the sight of it on. “Do you have the area of where you need to be?” She was already putting her hands the controls and they lit up under her touch.

“Yeah. Well I know the galaxy really. If you can get us there then I can find my way to where we need to go. I also don't want to get too close and the gales notice us.”

“Understood. Which galaxy is it?” He told her and in a few moments the familiar purple colors of the wormhole showed up and they went through. When they appeared on the other side he recognized it as the other side of the galaxy from the base. Perfect. They won't notice them then hopefully.

“Thanks Allura. I'll get going to Pidge now!”

“Good luck on your mission! And let us know if you need help!”

Keith nodded and actually took the Green Lion shoot. If it took him to the hanger why not? And he was right. In less than 10 seconds he walked out of the shoot and was in the hanger and looking up at Green. She lowered her head and he walked up the ramp and into the cockpit where Pidge was set up and ready to go.

“Allura got the wormhole ready?”

“Yep. Let's go.”

Pidge nodded and pushed the controls forward. Green flew out of the hanger and away from the ship. He looked back and saw the Castle of Lions fly back through the wormhole. He was thankful for that. He really didn't want them around when he was hacking into an ally’s database. He’d call Allura when they needed to go back. Besides, he was sure that by the time they got the info they needed, Allura will be contacted by Kolivan and meet get them before they need to call her.

“Okay. Lead the way. I don't know how to get there from this side of the galaxy so you'll have to lead.” Pidge was still flying in the same direction she was when she left but a little slower, unsure on where to go.”

“Just keep going in the direction you are now. We’ll reach them soon enough. When we see them just get as close as you need to for the signal to reach.”

Pidge nodded with an “alright" and flew a little faster with a direction in mind. Keith allowed himself to stand a little straighter and relax some. It wouldn't take too long to get to the base. Maybe half and hour with them on the other side of the galaxy. That gave him time to think. He was really going to get more information on his mom. Find out where she was and maybe why she left. He could read her earth mission files and then maybe find out where she was. If she was on a mission or even still with the Blade. He’d finally have answers.

“Hey Keith”, Pidge’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. “I assume when you get these files you're going to immediately go find your mom, right?” He simply nodded. “Well if you're okay with it, I wanted to help you find her.”

He was shocked a bit to say the least. He was only expecting her help to get the files he needed. He really didn’t expect her to want to continue to help him. He considered himself lucky to even get her help for this. He wasn’t sure why she would want to help, considering she was already getting herself into trouble doing this.

“Why… Why do you want to help me?”

“I want to. I know what’s it like to want to find a missing family member and besides, I’m already in enough trouble as it is by stealing from the Blade. Why not add to it?” She looks back at him with a more serious expression. “Helping you find your mom is more important to me than worrying about the amount of trouble I’ll get into with Allura and Kolivan.”

“Thanks Pidge. That means a lot. I’d be happy to have your help.” He smiled as she smiled back before she turned around to look back out at the vast galaxy. Keith was actually happy that Pidge wanted to continue to help him. He knew that he could have found his mom on his own, but now that he had Pidge’s continued help, he had much more confidence that he could find her faster.

The rest of the flight was uneventful. Near the end of the flight he noticed that she started to fly faster. She must have recognized the area a little more because her turns towards the base were more precise. They soon saw the unmistakable view of the Blades base. The star inbetween two black holes. She started to slow down a bit as they approached, not wanting to get too close to where they spotted them. When she finally stopped she pulled out her computer and started up the screen where Keith saw a mess of different Altean numbers and symbols that he still never really grasped the meaning of. He tried to learn the language but found it difficult.

“Okay, this shouldn’t take too long. Once the signal reaches the base I should be able to get into their database and get what we need.” She started to type quickly, her fingers sweeping over the keys. He saw the little cartoonish version of Pidge’s head show up in the corner of the screen telling him that she was now in the system. It was confirmed by Pidge who told him that it wouldn’t be long now. He intensely watches the screen confident that they were getting everything that they needed. It was only when the sound of a ship flying towards them caught his attention enough to look up. He saw four Blade fighter ships fly out of the star and stop in front of them. Kolivan’s face showed up on Pidge's screen inside the lion. As expected he didn’t look happy.

_“Keith, what do you think you’re doing?”_ His voice was loud and commanding. At any other time he would have been obedient and stood at attention in front of him. Now he knew he could answer any why he wanted. _“First you leave your quarters without orders, steal one of our ships, and now you try to steal the files from our base. I thought about letting you go easily considering our alliance with Voltron, but you clearly have no problem with hacking into allies databases and trying to break that trust.”_

“Breaking trust? You say I’m breaking trust? How about when you knowingly kept information about my family when you knew I was trying to understand my past! I was still loyal to you, to the Blade, I did my missions and never let my feelings get in the way of what needed to be done. You broke my trust in the Blade and its cause when you forced me away from my own mission. You don’t deserve to lecture me about trust when you have no integrity to keep others.”

Kolivan’s yellow eyes narrowed considerably at him and Keith saw his shoulders tense in the screen. _“You will regret this decision. If you truly feel this way, consider our alliance with the Voltron coalition finished.”_ His face vanished from screen before another one popped up. They were wearing one of the Blade’s masks and Keith could tell he was in one of the fighter planes.

_“Surrender now and give back our information and we will not destroy your beast.”_

“Pidge please tell me your almost done.” Keith gripped the seat anxiety started to rush through him. He suddenly regretted now bringing his own lion.

“Almost… Just a few more ticks.” Her typing became furious trying to finish up.

_“If you choose not to surrender, we must take action.”_

“Pidge we don’t have a few more ticks! We need to move now!” Keith gritted his teeth as he saw the blasters from the ship fire up.

“I know! Hang on!” He saw a bar show up on the screen. Just as it started to fill up he saw a beam shoot at them and Pidge managed to get her computer out of the way and miss the beam just in time. Keith let out a breath, but now they had two things to worry about. Saying in range to get the files while also fighting off multiple Blade fighters in one Voltron lion.

“This isn’t going to be easy. How do you want to take them out Keith? You know their weaknesses.” She was currently flying out of the way of shots while trying to fire back as well. Keith knew it wasn’t easy.

“I don’t want to damage any of them too badly. Yes, they kept secrets from me but they are still helping in the fight against the Galra. If we can, take out the ships without hurting any of them. They can get more ships, but they need all the fighters they can. Just try to take out the blaster in the back of the jet. That’ll destroy the ship without killing one of them.”

With a more solid plan, Pidge got into action. She turned around and headed towards the ships while still avoiding their shots at her. She flew past on ship and used the tail of her lion and aimed it at the back of the ship. When it made a hit the back of the ship blew up but the rest of the ship was still intact. 

“Alright one down three more to go.” Pidge said with a slight huff. “You know Allura is going be pissed at us right for breaking their alliance?” 

“I honestly couldn’t care what she thinks right now. All I care about is finding family.” Keith knew it was cold but it was truth. Allura’s anger was the last thing on his mind.

“I know the feeling…” Pidge said quietly before she quickly moved to fight off the next ship. They were hit by one beam but quickly recovered. Pidge grunted from the shot but pushed hard on the controls making her lion roar and have the vine gun appear on top. She shot at the ships blasters and the vines appeared outside of the blasters and crushed the back of the ship taking out another one.

_“Keith!”_ Another Blade member showed up on the lions screen. Pidge paid no mind but he recognized the voice. _“Stop this madness! We are not the enemy! Call off the beast now!”_ Keith looked down at the computer. The bar was halfway filled.

“No. I'm not going to stop until I get what I came for. I'm not above attacking people who betrayed me.” He cut off connection to them and any other incoming calls. It was after that they saw three more ships fly out of the base and towards them.

“Shit… Really?” Pidge sighed and took a defensive position in front of the ships. The vine gun was lit up ready to go along with the blaster inside Green’s mouth. “Please tell me that its it's almost done loading.”

Keith looked again at the computer. It was filling up but not as fast as he would have liked.

“It still has some way to go, but it is over halfway done.”

“Geez. Well let's hope Green can hold out on her own while we get what need.” She took a fine shot at one of the newer ships while the blast from the mouth took out another ship. It was getting harder for Pidge to keep up with all the ships while she shot at some as well as avoiding them. Ship after ship was shooting at Green and more where coming out of the base.

“All of this for some files. Well I guess we technically are their enemies but still. This seems a little excessive doesn't it?” Pidge grunted avoiding another shot. She put her vine gun away as there weren't many openings for a shot anymore. All she could do was move to avoid getting hit.

“We are enemies but you are right. I feel like this is a bit much.” 

“I cant keep this up much longer. Green has a shield but she’s not connected to Voltron right now so she's weaker. I hate to say this but we might have to leave soon to avoid getting her too damaged. We can't get out of here without her and I really don't want her or us getting captured by the Blade.”

Keith sighed. He knew she was right. He looked down at the computer. The bar was almost full, but it was meaningless if they couldn't leave in one piece. It wasn't everything he wanted but it was better than nothing.

“You're right. Let's--" he was cut off when he a large beam cut behind them destroying a ship entirely. When they both looked up they saw the castle ship looming over them. Normally it would be a welcome sight. Now they looked at it as threat for an entirely different reason. Keith opened up the comms again and immediately Allura showed up on screen.

_“You two broke our alliance with the Blade and started a fight with them?!”_ He could feel her rage through the screen. She was truly terrifying when she wanted to be.

“You wouldn't understand, Allura. Just help us from getting killed right now.” He closed the comms again. The ship moved in range of them them and pulled up the shield. When they were inside they let out a breath of relief. There was a ring from the computer and they both looked down to see the bar was completely filled and a computerized voice confirming the data retrieval complete.

“Well this didn't exactly go as planned. Sorry for dragging you into an unexpected fight like that.” Keith said. He was happy he got what he needed but also put his friend in danger when he couldn't do a thing. “I hate that I couldn't help at all. I basically made you do all the work.”

“Hey.” She grabbed his attention. “I agreed to do this. I knew what might happen and still helped. And I'm still going to help you find your mom even if I have to take on another fight all by myself. You finding your family is most important. When I found Matt and then my dad that was the biggest relief in the world. Now dad is back on earth and Matt is over whenever he can. I want you to feel that relief and be near your mom as well.” He couldn't help but smile at her. 

“Thanks Pidge. Now let's go face another battle against Allura this time.” She huffed a laugh and flew towards the Green Lion entrance just as the ship was moving towards the open wormhole behind it.

“Eh we can take her.” She smirked.

When they entered they saw Allura and the rest of the team there. None of them looked happy. They landed and they both felt a calming sensation come over both of them. Pidge from Green and Keith from Black. They both walked down the walkway ready to face the wrath of Allura. She marched towards them with a rage they haven't seen before.

“I hope you have a damn good reason for ending our alliance most important ally! What the hell is wrong with both of you?!”

“It was for a personal mission. You don't need to worry about it.” Keith glared back and walked away with Pidge following.

“Excuse me?! You will explain to me right this instant what the hell that was!” Keith kept his back turned to her not caring that he disrespecting her.

“It's none of your concern.” He walked out leaving the team stunned. When they left the hanger Pidge told him of an information room they could use to read the files and start Keith's search. She lead the way to the room that she used to when she was trying to find her brother. It was a big room with only one chair and a large holo screen in the middle of the room. It had a large circular table surrounding the holoscreen but no keyboard that Keith could see from the entrance. He walked over to the empty chairs where Pidge was setting up the computer and connecting it to the screen. It took only seconds before he saw the files showing up on the screen unlocked and ready for him to read.

“Okay we were lucky enough to get all the logs and files that you wanted. This should hopefully give you enough information to see where she is. I said I would continue to help you so if you want me to stay and do anything for you I can.” She moved over from the chair to let Keith sit down and look at everything himself.

“Well, I wouldn’t mind the help. Besides you’ve done this before and kind of have an idea of what to look for.” He was already pulling up different logs that Raye had entered about her past missions. The first ones were about her time on earth. He already read the first one about her trying to protect the Blue Lion, but he still had no idea why she left. “I just want to start to find out why she left earth. I want to know if it was because she was forced to leave because of the Blade or because she was in danger.” He also knew it was possibly that she just didn’t want to stay and take care of Keith, but he decided to not think about that for now. He didn’t want to think about the possibility that she left him because she didn’t want him. He hoped it was because she had no choice.

“Well you already know why she was on Earth. These logs seem to be all mission related. I’m not sure if it will say anything about her starting a family since it wasn’t part of her mission. But we can still track what she was doing and try to see why exactly she left. It should say if she was giving multiple updates to the Blade.” Pidge was leaning against the table her eyes scanning the screen like Keith’s was. She pointed to one log that still unopened. “Take a look at that one. It’s the last one in the mission that looks like it related to earth. It may have her reason for leaving.”

From the beginning of the log he can already tell a difference from the first one that he read a couple days ago. The first log he read had been very formal and serious in its writing. In this one, she seemed to be less formal and let her emotions through her writing.

_“Mission Log 102: The Galra have come to attack earth many times already. I’m not sure how they have managed to find it but I can’t keep fighting them off by myself nor keep endangering the people of the planet. I must return to the Blade to ask for assistance to protect the Blue Lion and the people of this planet.”_

“That was the last log of her mission on earth. She left to protect the Blue Lion.” It explained why she left, but he still had so many questions.

“I think she also left to protect you as well. Think about it. If she stayed any longer it might have resulted in her getting hurt with you and you dad getting caught in the crossfire. With her leaving, she could get aid to protect the earth so the galra wouldn’t have chance to get to you.” Keith looked away from the screen. It made sense of course, but it still hurt. He still couldn’t help but feel like she cared more about the mission than them. Pidge apparently noticed this and laid a hand on his shoulder. “She did it for you. I’m sure if she would have stayed if she had the option to. But I know it must have hurt to leave. Leaving a family member is never easy. I know she loved you.” Pidge smiled at him and Keith tried to take the words to heart. Even if it was true, it still hurt. The loneliness from not having either of his parents around still stuck with him today. It wasn’t going to be easy to get rid of these feelings he’s had for so long. Keith pulled put the earth file away to bring up another one, more specifically her missions after earth. Maybe he could find where she was.

They both heard the door of the information room swish open and Keith immediately closed the file again. He really hoped it was Allura. He wasn’t in the mood for another one of he lectures again. But when he turned around he saw it was Lance. He sighed but at least it wasn’t her.

“What do you want Lance?” It was more of a comment than a genuine question.

“Well for one why you put yourselves in jeopardy and destroyed our ties to the Blade of Marmora.” He fully walked in and crossed his arms.

“That’s none of your business, Lance. Look if Allura sent you here to ask me questions then you came her for nothing. I’m not talking to her. I have my own mission to worry about.” He turned back around but he didn’t bring the files back up. He didn’t want anyone else to know what he was doing.

“I think it is my business and the teams when you’ve destroyed an alliance with Voltron. An alliance that I thought was important to you as well. Why would you break something like that?” He still wouldn’t answer. He heard Lance sigh behind him and shift in place, “Look I won’t tell the others but I seriously want to know. The Blade was important to you. Why would break away from them and then risk your life going back there?”

He sounded sincere this time instead of demanding but he still didn’t want to tell him everything. Maybe he could tell him something small that wouldn’t give what he was trying to do away.

“All you need to know is that they broke my trust and kept their last secret from me. I was tired of it and left.” There, he told him the truth. Now he just wanted Lance to leave.

“There’s something that you’re not telling me. You’re not the type to just leave because of a few secrets. How did they break your trust?” Keith sighed.

“Why do you care?”

“Because you’re still a part of Voltron. Even when you left you were still a part of this team and we care about you. We were all worried about you especially when you didn’t contact for months at a time. We were really concerned. Now you’re back and saying the one group that’s been helping you understand yourself broke your trust? That isn’t good. They did something to you. I’m worried.” Keith didn’t know how to respond. To be honest, he thought that Lance hated him with their one sided rivalry. To hear that he was actually worried about him was strange to hear. He sighed.

“Keith.” It was Pidge this time who spoke, but she was speaking quietly enough so Lance didn’t hear. “He might be able to help. Besides three is better than two. If we get more information it’ll be easier to split the work and we could find her faster. I know it’s up to you but he could help.”

“I don’t want him to tell Allura or the others. They wouldn’t understand what I’m trying to do.”

“Then you can keep an eye on him if you want. Besides it sounds like we’re going to be traveling to find your mom depending on where these missions say she was. And we only have one lion right now to fly. If we get in trouble again it wouldn't be bad to have Red to help us.” Keith curled his fist. He knew she was right. He was just worried about too many people knowing. But it would be a good idea to have more help. He sighed and stood up. He turned around and walked towards Lance. He saw him take a slight more sturdy stance as if he thought Keith would do something. When he stood in front of him his gaze hardened.

“If I tell you, you can’t tell Allura or anyone else. I don’t care what they say to you or try to convince you to tell them. You can’t say anything. They wouldn't understand. I’m only telling you because I think you might be able to help me. Okay?” Lance nodded.

“Okay, I understand.”

“Good. What I’m trying to do is actually find my mother. She was a Blade member and they deliberately kept that from me. Even after I tried to go into their databases, I was locked out and then watched like a hawk every second. If I wasn’t then Kolivan was forcing me into strict training cycles to point to where I could hardly move. He broke my trust and kept something he knew I wanted to know about.”

“Wow. I knew Kolivan was kinda strict but… that’s not right. Is that why you went back to the base? To try and get the information you needed?”

“Yeah. That’s why I went back. To get those files. I needed Pidges help to she could hack into there and get what i needed. Without those I don’t know where I would be. They don’t exactly take kindly to enemies.” He knew he didn’t need to elaborate further when he saw the look of shock on Lance’s face. “Right now we're trying to see where she is. We have her files on the last two missions she was assigned. We’re going to look at her last one and see where she might be. It says it wasn’t completed so I'm guessing that means she's still working on it.”

“Is it okay to interfere on a Blades mission? Especially when you've broken away?” Lance asked.

“As long as I don't compromise the mission it'll be fine. Besides,” he turned back around and walked towards the table “I only want some answers.” Lance followed him and stood behind the chair as Keith brought up the mission file and its goal. Basic intelligence retrieval of Galra fleet patterns while also trying to find any new information about Zarkon. It had the planet she was to be stationed on for about 6 years and when they looked it seemed she hadn’t completed any at all. The times were strange though. From when the assignment was given to her she should have completed the mission already.

“Hey I know where that is!” Keith brought his attention to Lance. “That's close to the mermaid planet Hunk and I were stranded at! I can show you guys where it is!”

“Great. If you know where it is then let's go.”

“Wait! Allura is locking the lion docks to Green. She doesn't trust you guys not to leave castle. We’ll have to take Red with us. Also I really hope we don't need to come back for a long time because Allura isn't going to be very happy with any of us when we leave. We should gather all we can before we set off.”

“He’s right. If we leave now and need to come back to the Castle, Allura won't let us go out again unless it Voltron related. We need to get everything we can information wise.” Pidge agreed. “We can still do a lot here before we go and it gives us time to create a plan.”

“Fine.” He slumped slightly, clearly ready to go. “We can stay and get ready before we leave.”

“It's been a long morning. Why don't you guys go get something to eat and we’ll we’ll meet in one of our rooms. We can come up with something there. I don't want to do this in the open where Allura or the others might know what we're doing.”

They all agreed to meet up in Keith's room after they ate and Keith was the first to leave. He headed down to the kitchen to get something to eat. He realized he had not eaten much s all since he was on the ship to the castle. He hadn't eaten before he left for the base with Pidge and now that his mind was thinking about food, he was starving. That was when he remembered. Food goo. He had been away so long that he forgot all they had was goo to eat. He groaned sadly as he entered the kitchen, grabbed a plate, and walked over to the goo machine. He had the depenser in hand when Pidge walked in.

“You guys are still eating this stuff?” He asked unhappily with a grimace on his face. 

“Yeah, unfortunately. Thankfully we’ve been on other planets who have fed us after we saved them, so we haven’t really had to use it much.” She grabbed her own plate and walked over the the dispenser as well. “We did come up with something to make it taste better.” She reached up into a cabinet above the machine and grabbed two small packets. “Mix these in with the goo. It’s not the best flavor but it makes it taste less like goo.” He took one that she held out to him and looked at it. He couldn’t tell what it was other than some kind of space fruit. At least it was something. 

“Well it’s better than the Blade’s food. Let’s just get this eaten so we can get a plan going.” He filled his plate and Pidge did the same. The packet did make the goo more bearable but you can only do so much to green goo to make it taste better. 

They finished eating quickly and then left the kitchen to make their way to Keith’s room. Looking down the hall they saw Lance already standing outside the room. He was looking at his phone, but when they approached he looked up and put it away. 

“Alright let’s get this plan going. I want to start searching as soon as possible.” Keith unlocked his door and went inside. The other followed and the door shut after they went inside. He locked it after they were in, not wanting to risk anyone walking in on them and their planning.

“Okay so like I said before, once we leave Allura is not going to be happy. When we come back none of us will be able to leave the castle. She already locked you both out of the Green Lion hanger. She said she’ll only let Pidge in there if we need Voltron. So we need to get everything we need together so that when we leave, we won’t need to come back.” Lance explained.

“Well I can upgrade the decoder and a few other things we might need on my laptop. It won’t be much since its not big enough to support a large program, but it’ll definitely be enough. We shouldn’t need to come back if I do it right.”

“Alright. I’m not sure how long we’ll be gone. Blade members, if they’re not posing as galra soldiers, usually find a secluded area to hide in until they’re mission is over. It might take while to find her. Especially if we don’t want to blow her cover or ruin her mission. Lance if you can help me gather supplies into Red without noticing that would help. Also, if there a way to program the coordinates to that planet you were talking about that would help us so we can get there faster.” Lance nodded. “Okay I want to get everything ready by tomorrow. I don’t want to wait long. The longer we wait the less time we may have.”

“The upgrade to my laptop shouldn’t take long. You can count on it being ready for tomorrow.” Pidge said with confidence.

“Great. Lance, you come with me and we’ll get everything we need in Red. Pidge, let me know when you’re ready.” They all immediately left the room. Pidge went back to the information room to upgrade her laptop and Lance and Keith in the direction of Red. Getting everything ready without the others noticing was going to be difficult. 

Keith and Lance spent the next hour and half running back and forth throughout the castle. Since they knew it might take a few days out in space, especially with flying to another quadrant in space, they had to pack food and other supplies. They weren’t caught but they had a few close calls. Both Allura and Shiro had a close eye on Keith. With Lance it was easier for him to keep going, but they managed.

The last step was for them to get the coordinates into Red. He didn’t know the exact coordinate to the planet they needed so instead he put in the ones for the mermaid planet. Keith thought it was good enough. As long as they were close enough to find it that was all that he cared about.

By the time that everything was done he felt tired. That and the anxiety of knowing where his mom was stationed steadily drained him the more he thought about it. He finally knew. After so many years he was going to see her and get answers. 

He sat down on his bed and yawned. He was still in his paladin armor. He begrudgingly got up and walked over to the dresser that was built into his room. He sat every piece down on the dresser and changed into more comfortable clothes to sleep in. Like usual, he put his dagger under his pillow and laid down to get some much needed sleep.

\----

_When Keith opened his eyes he didn’t recognize his surroundings, which immediately made him more aware. He sat up in a flash and looked around and saw a desert landscape, but it wasn’t the one he was used to. It wasn’t the one where his shack was. Off a little ways he saw a large two story house with figures moving inside of it. Curious, he got up and walked towards it cautiously. He opened the gate that surrounded the yard and walked up to the window. He was hiding as much as he could behind the wall while still trying to see inside. What he saw made him gasp. It was a large Galra woman inside. Her white hair was in a long braid that reached past her back. He couldn't see her face but the feeling he had seeing her, he knew who she was._

_Keith wanted to move. He wanted to go inside but he was frozen in place. His hands were stuck to his sides and his feet felt cemented to the wooden floor of the porch of the house. He saw the woman turn around just enough to see a small profile of the women’s face before the scene around him changed._

_He was in the Blade’s base now and instead of their suit he was in his paladin armor. In front of him was a Blade member. Like the other members they were also wearing the mask to cover their face. Instinctively he brought out his blade and activated it keeping it in front of him ready to block any attack. But instead of an attack he heard a voice. The sound of it gave him chills up his back._

_“There’s no need for that, Keith.” The voice was cold but he knew it. He knew who it belonged to. The Blade member reached up to their head pushing back the hood and taking the mask off. White braided hair fell down and golden eyes looked down emotionless at him. Again Keith felt frozen in place like at the house. He couldn’t move. “This isn’t how I thought I would meet you. I actually never thought I would meet you. I left you on Earth. Who knew you were so stubborn enough to fly into space to find me.”_

_“Y-You’re my mom.” Keith was still frozen except for the slight shakes racking his body now. It was her._

_“Yes. I am.” Her eyes narrowed and her voice was sharp holding nothing but what he thought was resentment. “You couldn’t have stayed on Earth could you?”_

_“Why… why did you leave…?” Keith’s voice trembled. He felt tears filling his eyes, making his vision blurry._

_“I didn’t want you. I have a war to win and you were in the way.” Her words held nothing but hatred. Keith felt a stabbing like pain in his heart. His breathing was short and rapid. He felt he couldn’t breathe. “But you had to come up here and ruin that. You had to try and find me. Well 18 years later I still haven’t changed my mind.” He finally felt his limbs give out and he fell to his knees with his sword changing back to a dagger as it clattered to the ground beside him. He looked to the ground feeling numb. He saw her boots walking towards him and she picked up the dagger._

_“I have a war to win. Don’t get in my way.” The sword was activated and he looked up enough to see her walking away towards a lit up door in the base. When he saw she was gone he let the tears fall down his face and let out a screaming cry before his vision went black._

\----

Keith sat up in bed in a panic. His throat was sore and he was breathing rapidly, trying to make sense of his surroundings. He calmed down a bit seeing himself in his room in the castle. He felt more at ease, but he still couldn’t catch his breath. He was trying to take deep breaths but they were shaky and he couldn’t stop the rapid beat of his heart. The whole dream felt too real. His mother. She didn’t want him. He was just an obstacle in the way of her mission. He wasn’t wanted.

He felt the sharp pain in his chest return and his breathing was becoming harder to control. His hearing felt like it was fogging over. Keith knew what was happening and didn’t know what to do. He was alone with no one to help him.

Keith heard a frantic knock on his door and froze.

“Keith?! Are you okay? I heard you screaming!” Keith didn’t want to move. He didn’t want anyone to see him. Especially not Lance. He tried to let out a calm breath but it only came out as a broken sob which made Lance even more worried and frantic. Keith put his hands over his ears the loud noise making things worse. He was trying to stop himself from acting like this but it was hard. When the noise died down a little bit he rubbed at his eyes and stood up on wobbly legs to the door. He didn’t open it though.

“Just go away, Lance.” He tried to even out his voice.

“Keith, something is wrong. Please let me help you if I can.” His voice was so earnest and full of concern. A stark difference to the one in his dreams moments ago. Deep down he knew he needed someone to help him right now. He was hurt and needed something. He felt himself reach for the lock before he knew what he was doing. He heard the lock click open and the door swish open. When Lance looked at him his expressions changed from worried, to shocked, and back to worried. He cautiously lifted a hand towards Keith to see if he was okay with contact. When he made no move to back away or decline Lance put his hand on his shoulder and gently tugged him into an embrace. That was Keith's breaking point. The dam broke and the tears fell fast down his cheeks and dripped onto Lance's shirt. He only felt Lance tighten around him more and Keith reached up grabbing the sides of his shirt in his bunched up hands. Lance just let him to continue to cry. He didn't ask questions or even talk himself. He was just going to let Keith have the time he needed. And he was grateful for it. He didn't want to talk at this moment. He just wanted to let the frustration and pain out before anything else. He needed an outlet and Lance was being that for him.

He felt his cries die down to sniffles and soon he was able to lift his head. He dropped his hands and whipped his eyes. They hurt from crying and he knew they were red from all the rubbing. He hasn't had do that since he was a kid in foster care. When he realized he truly didn't have a family and was all alone.

“Are you okay?” His voice was low as if he was trying not to scare Keith away.

“Just… a nightmare. A bad one.” He felt heavy. Like his body weighed a ton. He could still move but they felt unlike his own, like those movements weren't from himself.

“I'd say. I heard you scream from my room and I got really worried. I've never heard you scream like that.” He hesitated before finishing. “You sounded so scared.”

“I…” Did he want to talk about it? He wasn't sure. But he did know that he didn't want to go back to sleep and he was sure that if he was alone again his thoughts would run wild and drift back to his dream.

“You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. But do you want some company instead? I know back home after I had a bad nightmare my sister would come into my room and we’d just sit together until I felt better. We never talked, she just held me until I was okay. So, if you’re okay with it, I can stay until you feel better.” Keith thought about it. It did sound like a good idea considering he didn't want to be alone. He was still on edge around Lance at times because of their past head butting and arguments. However, right now he was being sincere and kind to him. He was trying, and Keith appreciated it. So he decided to let him in. He stepped away from the door so Lance could come in and headed to his bed. He sat up against the wall his knees tucked up to his chin with his arms wrapped around them. He felt like a small child again in that position.

Lance walked over and waited for Keith to let him know if it was okay to sit next to him. When he got a nod he sat down next to him with his legs slightly bent and his hands in his lap. Honestly, he thought the close contact or silence would be awkward but instead he felt safer. His mind wasn't racing back to the dream and it was easier to concentrate on slight movements of Lance beside him instead of focusing on himself. This was what he needed. Someone who understood and cared.

“Thanks.” He quietly spoke. “For being here.”

“You're welcome. I wasn’t sure how you usually deal with your nightmares, but this is how I usually get through them, so I figured it might help you too.” He smiled warmly at him.

Keith gave a slight smile in return.

“Actually I want you ask you something.” He got a curious hum in response. “Why are you being so nice to me? I thought you hated me or something. You're always talking about a rivalry or picking a fight. I'll admit it toned down since we first came here but… I'm confused on why you're here if you think that way.” He saw Lance look away and hunch his shoulders. He sighed.

“I… never hated you. More like envied. You were at the top in the fighter class and I was a cargo pilot. I wanted to be in that class but I couldn't. Wasn't good enough. And I always looked up to Shiro and I always wanted to talk to him and learn more about my hero. And you were close to him. You had two things that I couldn't reach so I started a rivalry in my head to try and challenge myself to be better. Maybe then I could catch up to you. It kinda followed us into space and I guess the stress of fighting all the time and lingering rivalry in my head made me start arguments with you. I'm sorry about that by the way.” Keith looked at him in surprise. He didn't know that. He thought Lance hated for something he did. He spent so long trying to remember if had done something to Lance at that Garrison that could have caused the hate.

“To be honest with you, I never tried to be the top pilot. I just wanted to fly and when we were in the simulators, I just flew the way that felt right and that happened to get me to be top pilot. I thought it would get me closer to the answers I needed.” Lanced looked over at him. Everything was coming out into the open. The only person he really opened up to was Shiro, so this was still new to him. “By the way. Do you wanna know why I got kicked out of the Garrison?” He got a nod and Keith smiled as he remembered the memory. “I punched Iverson in the eye and blinded him.” The reaction was immediate. Lance's eyes grew wide with shock before he burst out laughing. 

“I can't believe you punched him! So that's why he came to school with an eye patch. He told us it was a training accident and then gave us a huge lecture on safety.” He was still chuckling. “To be fair, Iverson was an ass, so he deserved it.”

“Yeah, you're not wrong there.” He paused for a moment. He thought as long as they were sharing and he was still in this comfortable atmosphere, he felt ready to talk about his dream. “Hey, if you wanna know what happened, I'm okay to talk about it now.” Lance's gaze went serious.

“Are you sure? Cause you don't have to tell me if you really don't want to. I'm okay with not knowing if it makes you more comfortable.”

“I'm okay. Seriously. I think I need someone to talk about this with anyway.” He took a deep breathe. “I had a really bad nightmare. And normally if they're not too bad, I can just fall back asleep with no problem. But this one was about my mom…” He felt Lance stiffen beside him. “In my dream whenever I saw her I was frozen and unable to move or do anything. In it we were at the Blades base and I finally asked her why she left and… and she said she didn’t want me… that I was in her way…” He felt his tears well up again and he hugged his legs close to his body again. He also felt Lance's hand on his back to try and comfort him. “I woke up after that and started going into a panic. I couldn't breathe properly and I knew what was happening. I was having a panic attack. I hadn't had one in so long but it felt the same way it had years ago.”

“Keith…” He looked at Lance. “I'm so sorry you had a dream about that. I can't imagine how that must've felt. But that's just a dream and not real. I know for sure when we find your mom she's going to be happy so see you.” He smiled trying to make Keith feel better. Honestly, Keith wasn’t sure if his mom would be happy to see him. He wasn't sure how he would feel either. But for now he decided he would pretend that everything was going to be alright and his mom would be happy to see him after so long. The thought made him feel better, enough that he felt he could sleep better for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!  
> The last chapters will be up later today or early tomorrow.


	3. Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith, Lance, and Pidge are on their way to find Keith's mom. However what they find when they get there isnt what they hoped it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second to last chapter!  
> This is probably my favorite because of one specific scene. I hope you like it too! Enjoy!

It was the next morning. After Keith told Lance about what happened last night, he stayed with him for another hour or make sure he was okay before heading back to his room. Thankfully Keith had no nightmares and spent the rest of the night in a dreamless sleep. Now he was packing extra clothes and even his Blade suit just in case. He hoped he didn't have to wear it, but he wanted to be ready for any scenario possible. That meant taking his Balde suit.

He was going to meet everyone in the Red lion hanger when they were ready. He raced through the halls towards his old lion’s hanger and saw that Lance was the first one there. He waved at Keith and he set his things down in front of Red. They waited silently for Pidge. They knew she would probably take longer considering what she had to do, but hoped it wouldn't take too long. The longer they waited in the hanger the larger the risk of them being caught was.

The door to the hanger finally slid open and Pidge raced forward with a small sack over her shoulder. She slowed down and huffed when she stopped in front of them.

“Sorry. I was making sure everything I could possibly upgrade was on my laptop and it took longer than I thought it would.”

“It's fine. We’re just happy you got here okay.” Keith said picking up his bag again. Red, sensing that they were ready and needed her, bent her head down and opened her jaw to let them in. Keith let them both in first and so he was the last to enter. Lance took his seat in the pilot's chair as he and Pidge stood behind him looking out Red’s view.

“Okay, this is it. Once we leave there’s no coming back until we find your mom. You guys ready?” Lance asked as he put his hands on the controls.

“Yeah. Let's do this.” Pidge said sounding determined.

“More than ready. Let's go.”

With that Lance pushed the controls forward and Red fly out of the hanger at a tremendous pace. Keith felt his stomach flutter. He was finally going to see her. He was nervous but also ready after 18 years.

Beside him Pidge opened up her laptop and set it where Lance could easily see it.

“Okay, so I downloaded a map and looked at all the planets surrounding the mermaid planet you were on. It seems there's only one planet near there and a moon surrounding its orbit. The castle data said that the moon is extremely toxic and unlivable so we’ll check that planet for your mom since that's the only place there.”

“It’ll take awhile to get there though. The mermaid planet is galaxies away from us. We have a long way before we reach it.” Lance stated as he looked at the screen.

“As long as we get there in one piece I'm fine. Hopefully Red’s speed will get us there quicker.” Keith knew it would be a long trip. It's why he packed so much. “Do you know how long it will take though?”

“If we really push it? About three days honestly. It takes a while to get through multiple galaxies, especially when they're occupied by the enemy. So we’ll also have to avoid Galra ships on our way there and back.” Pidge explained. 

Keith nodded. He sighed and leaned against the wall inside Red. Honestly he wished he was still connected to her the way he was before. Ever since he had to switch to Black his connection to Red has dimmed. She was still there in the back of his mind, but it was so faint that sometimes he forgot she was there. Right now being inside Red the connection was stronger but still faint. He felt her trying to comfort him and he appreciated it. She was always trying to make him feel better when he was her paladin. He thanked her inside his head and felt the familiar rumble inside his head.

It was after a few hours that Keith realized how long it was going to take by lion. Red was fast but she was still only part of a larger robot. It was going to take awhile.

“Do you have a plan on how you're going to meet her?” Keith looked up at Pidge who looked just as bored as he did. “If she's really on a mission how are you going to talk to her without jeopardizing her cover and mission?”

She had a point. As he thought about it, he realized he didn't really have a plan. Despite not being in the Blade anymore it didn't matter if he was part of it or not. They were still fighting against Zarkon and every mission counted. He didn't want to ruin a mission for them.

“I… don't know. I just want to see her. Ask her why she left. But I also can't ruin a Blade mission. That's the last thing I want to do.”

“Well… you know how the Blade works. How their missions go. You should be able to find her if you act like this mission was given to you. We have the mission data with us, so it shouldn't be hard to read it and find where she is. And once you're in there and see how large the population is, it should be easier for you to figure out what to do.” Keith nodded. That sounded like a good enough plan. It would be easier once they landed. He could survey the place and work it out from there.

“Uh guys.” Lance looked back at them and they got up to see what he was looking at. “We have a call from the castle. I blocked all incoming calls but I think Allura is trying to talk to us. Do you want to answer Keith?” 

“Put her through. I can take care of this. Just keep flying.” Lance looked uncertain but did it anyway. He pushed the button to put Allura through and instantly her face popped up on the screen. She looked furious. Probably more so than when he and Pidge ran off to the Blade’s base. He distantly thought that if looks could kill he’d be dead right now.

_“I can't believe you three! Sneaking off the day after you run off an ruin an alliance and taking another lion?! You will come back right now. And Keith. What is going on with you? I demand an answer!”_ He just glared in response.

“All you need to know is that this is something I have to do. I don't care if you understand or not. Yell at me and punish me all you want when I get back but I'm not stopping until I get what I need.” She narrowed her eyes at him. She was angrier which was impressive considering her current state.

_“You leave me no choice. I'm going to to track where you are and come get you.”_ Keith paused. He completely forgot the lions had trackers. They were only used once and that was when they arrived on Arus. He cursed in his head. He did not want Allura to ruin this.

“Actually princess, you can't. I disabled the tracked on the Red lion last night. You won't be able to see where we are.” Pidge stood next to him peeking her head around his frame to speak to Allura on the screen.

_“What?!”_ They saw her frantically typing something off to the side of the screen before she sighed and hung her head. _“I am very disappointed in all of you.”_ She brought her head back up to look at them. _"When you three get back you will punished accordingly.”_ She obviously didn't want to go without a win but she didn't have a way to get them. They thought too far ahead. She said a curt goodbye and they all relaxed after. They hoped that was the only encounter they had after that. Also he really had to give it up to Pidge for disabling Red’s tracker. That was a huge help. Now all they had to do was travel for three more days and find his mother. Easy. Right?

\----

The three days passed by uneventful. They ate through some of the food they brought and had plenty enough to get back once they were done. Lance himself got particularly excited when he saw the blue surface of the mermaid planet. They already knew of what happened to him and Hunk because he wouldn't stop talking about it once everyone was back. To be fair, it was kinda cool how they fought an underwater monster.

However, the only planet Keith was interested in was the one his mother was on. They passed the mermaid planet about half an hour ago and it was out of view. Now they were all keeping an eye out for his mother's planet.

“Wait. Is that it in the distance?” Lance leaned forward trying to see if he was right. He flew closer and they saw a brown dusty planet with a pale yellow moon orbiting it.

“That's it!” Pidge exclaimed. “That's the planet that she should be on!”

“It looks really cloudy from up here. I hope its it's easier to see on the planet's surface.” Lance said. He flew towards it and felt the gravitational pull of the planet as he landed Red on the surface. It was still dusty so he’d have to wear a helmet, but from what he could see, there was nothing here. The planet was barren of any life.

“That's weird. Where are the people?” Keith's grip tightened on the pilot chair.

“Maybe they're somewhere else? They might only be using part of the planet to live on. Let's fly and find some forms of life.” Lance pushed the controls and had Red up and flying again. Keith looked around the planet nervously trying to find any sort of life or sign that his mom was here. He was starting to lose hope fast of finding her at all. If she wasn't here then he had no leads on where she was. He had no idea how he would find her after this if she wasn't there.

“Wait! What is that down there?” He pointed down to a black shape in the brown earth below them. It was hard to see through the dust storm and the years of sand build up, but thanks to Red’s sensors, she was able to see through it to reveal a Blade of Marmora ship. It was old model and was beaten up badly.

Lance immediately flew Red down close to the ship and Keith ran out of her mouth just as she opened her jaw. He used the sensor in his helmet to get a clear view of the ship and ran for it as Lance and Pidge exited Red. The ship was definitely a fighter ship and it looked like the right wing had been shot off. When he got close enough, Keith climbed up on it and pulled at the glass canopy to see into the ship. Due to the years of dust eroding the joints of the canopy, he was struggling to get it open. He took out his bayard and activated it so he could jam it at the joints and locks. He saw it slide slightly out of place and he put his bayard away and pulled the canopy away from the ship and let it fall to the dirt below them. Looking inside he saw nothing. No one was there and it has looked undisturbed for years and years. He wasn’t sure if he should feel relief or sadness looking at the empty ship. It wasn’t until he saw the blood stains on the pilot seat that his heart sped up. He must have had a fearful look because Pidge tried to get his attention.

“Keith! What’s up there?” He couldn’t say much so he just motioned for them to climb up. They did wordlessly. Lance climbed up first and helped Pidge up as she was carrying her laptop. They walked over to where Keith was standing and looked in. They weren’t sure what they were looking at until they saw the blood stains on the seat themselves. 

“It’s most likely from the crash. I’m sure she fine and somewhere on this planet. We’ll find her!” Lance was trying to make him feel optimistic despite the scene but right now he didn’t want to hear it. He just asked if Pidge could see if there was anything that she could download from the ship. He wasn’t sure if the ship even still had anything on it, but if he could find a map of where she was headed. He wasn’t sure if she was even still alive anymore but he could still look. He wasn’t stopping until he found her one way or another.

As Pidge moved in the ship, they heard her feet crunches on broken glass that littered the floor. She tried to walk around it but it was everywhere. She stood in front of the screens and opened up her laptop with a cord. She plugged it into her laptop and into the ship. It wouldn’t download anything if the ship wasn’t on. She looked for a power switch but she wasn’t familiar with Blade technology. It was much different from the castle or the lions. She looked again and saw what looked like a small switch near the controls. When she flicked it the ship flickered but it wasn't fully on. It wouldn't fly but it would stay on long enough for her to get what Keith wanted. She went back to the laptop and instantly started to download what she could. There was a block on them like at the base but not nearly as bad. She was easily able to get past it and download all there was. Since it was such a small ship compared to the base it took nearly 2 minutes to get everything before she closed her laptop and started to leave. When she moved back around the glass she spotted something. It was small and had a gold chain through it. Moving closer she saw it was a diamond ring on a necklace. Her eyes widened as she picked it up. It was slightly dirty and a few links had the familiar dark red stain on it. She knew what it was. It belonged to Keith’s mom. He needed to have it.

Keith looked at her as she climbed out and saw as she concealed the laptop the best she could from the sand storm. “I got everything I could.” She said. “Also when I was downloading everything I noticed that these files were bigger than the ones that we were looking at before. I'm not sure why but we can look a them in the lion. It might be something that leads us to her.” He simply nodded at her. To be honest his eyes kept straying to the stains in the ship, but he shook his head quickly after. He needed to focus. “Also, I found this.” She held up the necklace. “It’s a diamond ring on a necklace. I think it belonged to her. And you need to have it.” She handed over the necklace to Keith and he took it with shaking hands. He didn’t know how to respond. So he just closed his fist around it and turned around.

“Let’s get back to the lion. The faster we look at those files the faster we can find her.” He walked towards the edge of the ship and jumped down to the ground. He started towards the lion and heard the other two drop down behind him. Red opened her jaw to let them in and Keith felt a gentle purr in his head. She was trying to calm him down like she used to when he was upset about something.

Lance and Pidge followed in after him and they were now safely secured inside Red. They all took off their helmets with a relieved huff. Pidge took the laptop and set it down on one of Red’s storage drawers as a makeshift table. She searched though and pulled up the files she got and they all looked in slight shock to see video clips instead of texts. From what they could see the videos had stills of the galra women and in each one she was badly beaten up. Just the image of the first still of her hair a mess, her armor had many scratches on it, and a large bloody line on her left cheek.

Keith looked at the stills and he didn't have to say anything for them to know that he wanted to watch these alone. He took the laptop and exited the cockpit. He went through Red till he reached her chest which acted as a cargo hold for supplies. This is where they had most of their stuff and Keith went to where he had his things which is a small sack of clothes with some blankets and a pillow. He sat down and pushed himself against them and hovered the arrow over the first video. He was nervous. Who knew what he'd see? He already saw her ship was wrecked by the crash did he really need to watch a video of it happening?

He steeled himself with a breath. Either way he needed to know what happened to her. So he let out the breath and clicked the video.

\-----

Raye looked out the window of her ship and saw the planet she was assigned to go to. Planet Xyran was a hot, almost unlivable, desert landscape. With its constant dust storms and nowhere to keep food and other supplies safe, she wondered how the inhabitant survived at all on the planet.

Oh well. It wasn’t her business. All she needed was the data she was told to retrieve from Xyran. In her opinion she didn’t feel she was ready to start going on missions. After her most recent mission after she got back from Earth, she had a nasty encounter with the Galra. A large gash in her side and a head injury. She was up in four days but nowhere near healed. But to Kolivan it was good enough. “If you can stand you can take missions” he had said. She frowned remembering it. She held her side where the gash was still healing and felt it throb. She just wanted to lay down and rest. Not go to some godforsaken desert planet for data.

She was nearing closer when a purple ray shot past her ship. She gasped and opened up a screen to see two galra fighters behind her. She cursed and flew out of the way as they continued to fire at her.

“Are you serious? All way out here? ‘A simple data retrieval’ yeah right. Next time I see Kolivan I’m gonna kick his ass for sending me out here.” She glared as she avoided more strikes. Her own ship had weapons so she activated them with automatic lock. They weren’t very powerful but the Blade wasn’t known for taking action against the enemies. She just hoped these were enough to help her stay safe.

She felt a shot hit her ship and she jerked forward from the hit. She pulled up a screen to see where the damage hit and saw it close to her engine. She knew she would have to land soon. The engine wouldn’t survive long, but she couldn’t land with them chasing her. She needed help. She leaned over to open a comm to the blade base when her ship was hit again. At the same time she opened up the comm she managed to hit the video record button. She briefly thought about turning it off but Kolivan answered her call before she did anything.

_“Raye. Why are you calling? You should be doing your mission right now.”_

“I need help!” She yelled at the screen as she dodged another attack. “Send another Blade member over here to get these Galra off me! If I don’t land soon I’m going to crash into the planet!”

_“You want me to risk other Blade’s lives for this? They have better things to do. You can solve this yourself. It’s a data retrieval. Nothing you haven’t done before.”_

“Dammit Kolivan I need help! What is wrong with you! I’m going to crash if you don’t send some help my way! I just need these galra fighter gone so I can do my mission.”

_“I’m not going to waste Blade members on this. Fight them on your own and then do your mission.”_ He cut the call after that and Raye growled in frustration. Did she say she was going to kick Kolivan’s ass? She’d changed her mind now. She was going to kill him.

“Ugh I can’t believe this. I don’t have any help and I might crash any minute.” She noticed she was far closer to Xyran than she would have liked. She didn’t want to bring the galra closer to the planet any more than she already had, so she turned her ship to the left flying away from the planet. The fighters followed her and her weapons managed to get one of the fighter so now she only had one to worry about.

She was still in trouble as her ship was starting to smoke. She didn’t have long before her systems completely failed her. Another hit. A few of her systems immediately went away to conserve power, including the video recording and the ship diagnostics. Well she already knew the ship was trouble, she didn’t really need it now. However, she saw the automatic lock shut down as well. She sighed. Of course it would shut down now. She switched to manual and tightened her grip on the controls. She needed to get behind the galra fighter. She couldn’t get a shot with where she is now. She had an idea but wasn’t sure if it would work considering she needed to get back to top speed after she did it. She remembered back on Earth she watched a movie about plane fighting she couldn't remember the name but she did remember what the main character did when fighting. It was risky considering how much more advanced her ship was compared to earth's but it was worth a shot.

“Well, I’m going to die anyway if I don’t do something, so why not.” Raye took and breathe and lowered her ship slightly before she pulled back hard on the controls. The fighter jet flew past her and she immediately pushed them forward again hitting max speed. Her ship rattled violently in protest but she kept going. Her weapons were still operational thankfully and manually aimed for the fighter. She didn’t have long before it flew around out of the way so quickly when she got the target in line she starting shooting at the ship. It dodged a few times before she managed a hit. It started to fail in its fighting which gave her another chance to hit it and then it was completely down. She sighed in relief and flew towards Xyran. She needed to land quickly. 

She made it to Xyran’s atmosphere when her ship started flashing its emergency lights. She panicked and tried to fly faster but the engine cuts off. She cursed and pulled back on the controls. If she couldn’t fly it then maybe she can make her ship glide to minimize the damage. It was hard without the ships help. She was in a steep decline and the controls were fighting her as she got closer and closer to the ground. What was worse was the storm was making everything harder to see. All she knew was that she was seconds away from a deadly crash. She kept pulling until she felt them give way slightly for her to get glide in. However, she was already so close to the ground and the storm managed to sway her ship just enough for it to lose the air she needed under the wings and have her crash roughly to the ground. 

She grunted as it crashed into the hard earth and felt one of the handles of the controls dig roughly right into her wound in her side. She also banged her head hard enough to see stars behind her eyes and her vision became fuzzy. The ship continued to slide for a few more moments before it came to a halt. She gripped her side in pain and felt something wet. She lifted her hand to see red coving her hand.

“Shit… This isn’t good.” She had no medical supplies on the ship the best thing she could do was get a rag or something to press against her side. She pushed against her seat to try and stand before she dropped back down. “What?” She tried again with the same result. She couldn’t stand up anymore. Her legs weren’t broken but they wouldn’t work properly. Raye pushed her hands against her legs and still felt feelings, so she didn’t know what was wrong. She leaned back against the seat and pressed her hand against her side again. It wasn’t the best thing to stop the blood but it was the only thing she had.

She needed help. She needed someone to get her. She thought of calling the Blade but then thought better of it. They would just send her out on another mission before she was ready. Again. She really wasn’t sure if she even wanted to part of it anymore. Yes, they were fighting against Zarkon but they weren’t really doing anything. Just data retrieval and maybe infiltrate a base every now and then. They weren’t really helping the universe fight back against the empire.

She curled over as a sharp pain went through her side. It was getting worse. She wasn’t going to call the Blade. Even if Kolivan did have a shred of humanity in him and sent help, they wouldn’t get here in time. She realized with a sinking feeling that she was going to die. No one would know or care. And her heart stung with the thought of never seeing her fiancé David and her son Keith back on earth. Tears started to stream down her face. She was hoping one day she could take a break from the Blade and go back to Earth to see them again. She’d already been gone for a year and missed them so much more than she could describe.

She lifted her free hand and reached into her armor around her neck and pulled out a necklace with a ring on it. She held it in front of her and looked at it with her fuzzy vision. It was the ring David gave her a year after she had been on Earth. It was his way of saying that he wanted to be with her. She smiled slightly remembering his proposal. His words were shaking as he spoke to her asked her stay with him and they way he smiled when she said yes. She wanted to see him and Keith. How would he grow up? How would David raise him? Would he happy or even think about her?

She guessed she’d never know. And she realized he never knew her. An idea came into her head. It was stupid but it might make her feel better. She could leave a message for him. Telling him how much she still loved him and apologize to both David and Keith for leaving. She doubted they would ever be in space, let alone find her ship in this hell of a desert planet. But it would make her feel better knowing that it might reach them in some way. She looked through her blurry vision and leaned forward with pain to press the video button. Nothing happened for a while, and she was scared that the ship was too damaged to turn it on. After a few more seconds it flickered to life. The screen looked fuzzy but that was probably just her vision doing that.

“Okay… Uh… I just realized I have no idea what to say.” She laughed awkwardly ignoring the pain in her side at the action. If someone did see this she didn’t want them to see she was hurt. “Well, uh, Keith I don’t know if you’ll ever see this but I wanted to talk to you. There’s so many things I wish I had done. Mainly stayed on Earth. I wanted to, but the Galra kept coming and I knew if I stayed Earth, the people, you would have been in danger. It hurt leaving you and everyday I feel that regret eat away at me, but I can only hope that you’re safe and you can forgive me one day.”

She took a deep breath and saw spots grow in her vision. She shook her head. Just a bit more time.

“I’m sorry I missed so much of your life already. I only knew you for about a year, but that was the best year of my life. I wish I could see you grow up. See your first steps, your first words, your first day of school. I wish I could see everything. I wanted to come see you earlier and I’m so sorry.” She hiccuped and felt her mouth go dry as the dark spots grew bigger and the edges of her vision were dark. “I hope I can see you again one day. I want you so badly. As well as your dad. I miss you both so much.” She clutched the ring to her chest and her head fell back as the darkness completely overtook her vision. She heard the video flicker and let her hand fall from her chest as the ring fell from her hand. The last thing she heard was the canopy of her ship open up with a few people talking and the video turning off before everything stopped.

\----

Keith felt tears fall down his cheeks. She died. Right on camera. He could see the whole time she was trying to stay awake longer just to talk to him but she couldn’t. She died and he never felt so broken than in that moment. Even as a kid when his dad left or when Shiro went missing, this was his true breaking point. He threw the laptop away from him and heard it clatter and was uncaring of any damage that may have happened. He let out a sob and brought his knees to his chest. He looked down at the necklace that he still had in his hand and felt more tears run down his face.

She was gone. He could never see or talk to her. He could never ask her what he wanted to or even have her come back into his life. This was just another way for the universe to make his life miserable and another sign that he’s never going to have that happiness he wished he had all his life. Seeing his mother die in that video just proved it.

He stayed curled up in his little corner for what felt like an eternity. He eyes hurt and felt the tears dry on his face. He was sure he looked like a mess but he didn’t care. He had been searching for his mother almost his whole life, or at least answers, and now he found out what happened to her.

He heard the door to the room open and didn’t need to know who it was by the light footsteps walking towards him. Pidge knelt beside him and quietly called his name. He didn’t answer verbally but still let her know he heard her.

“Are… What happened?” He heard her stop as she chose her words. “We both heard a clatter then nothing for awhile. Do you want to talk about it?” He shook his head slightly. “Okay. Well, I’ll leave you alone then.” She stood up and he heard her pick up her laptop from the floor. “By the way we’re going to stay on the planet for as long as you need. We want to make sure you’re ready before we leave.” She walked out of the room and he sat there. Was there really any reason to stay? He had no way of seeing her now. There was point in this mission now. He just wanted to go home.

Red rumbled in his mind and as much as he wanted to appreciate her trying to help him, he didn’t want to hear it. For the first time he intentionally blocked Red from his mind. He needed space, even from Red. He knew no amount of comforting words for rumbles from her would erase what he was feeling.

He felt so alone and helpless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder if any body knew the movie Raye was talking about. Its an 80s movie and you get it right I'll give you an internet cookie!


	4. Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the devastating discovery of his moms death, Pidge comes to him and suggests they find out more of what happened. Keith is apprehensive, but what else does he have to lose at this point?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter!  
> This was a lot of fun to work on and I hope you enjoy my first completed multichapter fic!

It was hours before he decided to stand up again. He used the wall to support himself and stood on shaky legs. He felt drained from the last hours. He cried multiple times during that time and now all he felt was emptiness. He felt like a shell of himself and didn’t want to feel anything. He just wanted to go home.

He slowly made his way to the door to the cockpit and walked in where he saw Lance and Pidge sitting on the floor. They had worried looks on their faces until he walked in. Lance stood up immediately to walk over to him. He hesitated a bit as he was unsure.

“Hey man. Um, are you okay?” He didn’t know honestly. He still felt empty. How are you supposed to feel you see the mother that you never met die in front of you on screen? Instead he just shrugged and hoped he didn’t push it further.

“Keith.” Pidge stood up next. She had her laptop open in her hands and it looked like she wanted to tell him something. “I… I hope you’re not mad but… I watched the videos. I wanted to see if I could see anything to help you. I don’t know if you want to hear this or even continue what we’re doing but i found something. Near the end of the video there’s voices in the background and that’s a big clue we can use. If you want to, we can search for more answers.” 

She was trying to help, but did he even want to continue? She was dead and he wasn’t sure if any new information could help. As he looked at her, she looked hopeful. That maybe finding more answers would fix everything. He didn’t think it would help, but he nodded just to please her. She smiled, relieved. She turned the laptop around so he could look at it and he saw a screen full of different files about an alien race.

“This is the alien race Hesheen. They were the voices in the video. If they were the ones who saw her last they may be able to tell us something. I think I also found where they are.” She set the laptop down and typed in a few things before a moon came up, or more specifically the moon orbiting Xyran.

“Wait, you mean that toxic uninhabitable moon? I thought you said it was so toxic it was unlivable.” Lance looked at the screen suspiciously.

“Well the castle data said that and remember that the castle is 10,000 years old. The only things we’ve updated are only the planets we’ve visited or other random files we’ve gotten along the way. We’ve never heard of this planet. It could be completely different now. I was thinking, since red could withstand the toxic air, we go down there and see if there’s any signs of life. If not we’ll leave and go back home, but if there are, we should talk to the people and see if they know anything.”

“And what makes you think they’ll be there? Why wouldn’t they be on Xyran?” Lance asked.

“Well these aliens move every 20 years. They take what resources they can from the planet and then move to the next one and keep doing that over and over again. They don't like moving too far from the last planet they were and only go to uninhabited places. That’s why I think they’re on the moon. It’s close to Xyran, it has no domestic life, and it been less than 20 years since the video was made so the only logical thing I can think of is them being on the moon.”

Keith thought about it. It did make sense. He still wasn’t sure about the whole thing but Pidge seemed determined to go. To find new information that they missed. To fill a missing puzzle piece so to speak.

“Fine.” They both looked over at him. “If you think there truly is something there we’ll go.”

“I do. I think we can find something useful there.”

“Then let’s go.” He crossed his arms as Lance went to the pilot chair. He felt Red stand up and take off. He looked out the window to see them leaving Xyran and he felt a bit of relief. He hated that place and would be glad to never set foot there again.

They saw the moon right up ahead and they flew towards it. From what they saw it almost looked like Xyran with a yellow cloud covering the entire planet. They would have to through it to see if anything was in it. Red flew through the cloud and Keith felt anxious about entering a toxic moon. If they did leave Red he hoped their armor was enough to keep them safe.

When Red broke through the atmosphere of the moon the gravity was much stronger than they expected for a moon. Lance continued to fly her down and they finally got through the layer of cloud to see a large village on the surface of the moon. That alone was enough to surprise Keith and caused him to walk closer to the window to see out. The village in terms of the size of the moon was small but the amount of buildings and people moving around was a shock.

“I think we need to update that castle info because this place is definitely habitable. Look at all the people running around!” Lance was practically bug eyed. You couldn’t blame him. When you’re told that a planet is toxic and unlivable you don’t really expect an entire village to be living and thriving.

Lance landed Red on the edge of the village and they had their helmets on ready to leave when they saw two aliens, most likely hesheens, walk up to Red with spears in their hands. _‘What a warm welcoming…’_ Keith thought sarcastically.

They walked out of Red and saw the two aliens standing there. They didn’t look like they would attack right away which was good, but they would if they didn’t like what they heard. They would have to be careful with what they say.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Their voices were almost a high pitched gravel noise. It was hard to understand unless you really listened.

“I’m just looking for information about Blade of Marmora member. Nothing more. We thought you might know something.” They stood in a fighting stance with their spears now pointed towards them.

“We know nothing of them. You came here for nothing. Leave in your giant metal beast and we won’t attack you.” Keith clenched his jaw and curled his fist. He saw them tighten their grip on the spears.

“Look I just want to know if you know anything about her! Her name is Raye, I’m her son! I just want to know if you know anything!” He saw them loosen their grip every slightly.

“What proof would you even have if we did know a Blade member?” Keith noticed their loose grip on their weapons and how they asked him that question. He pulled out his blade and showed them the Blade symbol on it. The two hesheens looked at it before speaking to each other in a language they didn’t know.

“You have the Blade she described. You also look a lot like Raye. We will trust you and take you to her. Follow.” Keith stood shocked. He had to take a moment to process what they just said. Take him to her? He felt Pidge slightly nudge him to get him to follow the Hesheens.

The two walked them through the village and they all got a better look at it from ground level. It was amazing how much it looked like a village you would see on Earth. They even saw an open outdoor market not far from where they were. They were then lead into a small area where multiple houses were formed into a small half circle. They were all bunched up together into such a tight space that none of them had much room between them. They all stopped in front of one small house and they were instructed to wait for a moment. One of the Hesheens stepped inside and Keith felt an anxious weight settle in his chest. He was just starting to accept his mother was dead and now they were following someone who said they would take him to her. He held his breath as they came back outside.

“She is resting but you may go in if you wish.” They left and it was just them three in front of the house. He was scared. He didn’t know what to do.

“Keith? You okay?” Lance spoke to him softly.

“I don’t know. I was just getting starting to accept that she was dead and now… now she may be on the other side of this door.” He felt Lance put a hand on his shoulder. 

“If you need we can go in there with you. But remember what she said before? She’s going to be so happy to see you after so long. I’m sure you want to see her too, right?” He smiled at him and Keith felt himself relax a little.

“I think I can do on my own. But.. thanks.” He gave his first smile since he watched the video and walked into the house. It was a small one story house and he could see most of the from the front door. The living room was right when he walked in and looked further to see the kitchen connected to what looked like a dining room. The house looked so earth like he was taken back. He saw a hallway off to the right and he walked down it to see a door at the end on the left. Keith made his way to it and stood there gathering his nerves before he opened the door. As he opened it he saw a bed against the far wall and saw a women sleeping in it. Her back was turned but he could see the clear purple of her skin and her white braided hair. He knew the moment he saw her she was his mom. He stepped forward when she moved. She sat up and yawned while stretching out her arms.

“Who’s there? I swear you all ruin my sleep every night.” She turned her around rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Honestly, do y'all ever sleep--” She cut herself off as she looked at Keith with wide eyes. She was frozen in her bed as she looked at him. Keith was the same way. She looked just like the picture he saw of her at the base and from the videos.

“M-Mom?” He asked in a shaky voice. 

“Keith…” Her face softened and her eyes filled with tears. Keith felt his own form and walked over to her. He knelt down on the floor and with how low the bed was they were nearly at eyes level. His throat tightened up and he felt he couldn’t speak. So instead she spoke first.

“Keith… my son.” She lifted a hand towards him but hesitated just before she laid it on his cheek like she was afraid he would reject her. Instead she laid it on his shoulder as she continued speaking. “How… how are you out here? How are you not on Earth with your father?” 

He wasn’t sure how to answer that. For all she knew his dad raised him all his life instead of leaving him alone and being tossed into a foster home. Instead he’ll just answer the first question.

“I joined the Galaxy Garrison. And then I found the Blue Lion and it took me to space.” She paused for a moment.

“Wait. You took the Blue Lion into space? I knew it was gone from Earth, but…”

“I’m part of Voltron. Are you mad that I took from Earth?” He was nervous. He shouldn’t be especially with all the good Voltron has done, but he wanted his mother's approval. He wanted her to be proud of him.

“Mad? How could I be mad? My son is part of Voltron, I couldn’t be prouder of you!” She let out of a small laugh. “I’ve heard of all the good things you have done for the universe. I never knew my own son was part of that.” She smiled at him and Keith felt his chest swell with happiness and pride. The first conversation he had with her and she was already proud of him. He was shocked when she moved her hand from his shoulder to his cheek. “Keith I’m so proud of you. I wish I could’ve seen more of your accomplishments. I’ve missed you so much.” Her eyes were filled with a warmth that he had never seen directed towards him. Motherly love and affection were held in them he felt a rush of emotions overtake him in that moment. He surged forward and hugged her. In an iststand he felt her own arms wrap around him tightly. 

“Mom… I always wondered where you were when I was kid. I didn’t know anything about you. I was worried that I would never find you…” He felt tears roll down his face and onto her shoulder.

“Keith. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I made you feel that way. But I promise I will be here. You won’t have to worry about me leaving because I will never leave you behind again. My heart ached every day knowing you were on Earth far from where I was. I could never live with that or put you through any more sorrow.” His tears fell harder as she tightened her grip. “I missed you so much. I love you, Keith.” That was it. He let out a sob into his mother’s shoulder and he heard the words he never thought he would. ‘I love you.’ 

They stayed like that for awhile before he decided to pull back. He was still in his mom arms as he asked, “Are you really going to stay with me? You’re not going to go back to the Blade?” 

She shook her. “I’m never going back to that wretched place again. Not after what they did. I’m going to stay by your side for as long as you want me too. I can’t even imagine being away from you again.” He smiled and brought himself closer to her again. “By the way, how did you find me? I’ve been on this moon for 18 years it isn’t easy to find.” She pulled back slightly to look at him.

“Oh well I joined the Blade actually. I wanted to know more about myself and after I went through the trials I joined them.” She looked at him in shock and fear.

“You joined the Blade?! That place is terrible I can’t believe Kolivan forced you to take those trials! They’re extremely deadly! Please tell me he didn’t try to hurt you after that.”

“Uh… well after I found files about you he locked me out of the system. I tried to get back in by hacking. He broke the alliance with Voltron after that and the other Blade members to attack me and my friend.” Her eyes, her solid yellow eyes grew dark and filled with anger. Not towards him, he knew, but towards Kolivan.

“I’m going to kill him. I knew that man held no compassion but I’m going to kill him.” She sat up straighter in her bed and swung her legs out of the bed. “I’m not surprised the Blade is just as cold hearted and disgusting as before. Please tell me you will leave them if you haven’t already. I don’t want you to go through what I have.” She pleaded with him.

“I already have. They tried to keep me from finding you. I was tired of their secrets and left them before I came to find you.” She sighed in relief.

“Good. Then I want you to join me as I kick his ass.” She was smirking but he also knew that she saw Kolivan she would follow through on her promise. He laughed a bit.

“Sure, but we should probably get back to my friends. They’re waiting outside.”

“Oh, are your friends also part of Voltron?” He nods. “How exciting!’ He sees her struggle to stand and catches her as she falls. “Heh, guess I’m still not able to stand. Can you bring me over that wheelchair?” He looks behind him to see a wheelchair beside her bedside table. He completely missed it when he walked in. Slowly he walked her over to it and sat her down in it. He could tell she didn’t like being in it. He didn’t understand. He knew she was hurt from the crash but not this bad.

“You’re probably wondering why I’m in this aren’t you?” She smiles sadly at him as if ashamed to look like this in front of him.

“I knew you crashed but… I didn’t know it was this bad. I saw your ship and the videos.” She looked up as he mentioned the videos and she knew immediately what he was thinking about. She grabbed his hand and held it tightly.

“Keith, I’m so sorry you saw that. But remember I’m never leaving you again, okay?” She looked up at him and nodded squeezing her hand back.

He let go and walked behind her to push her out of the room. He moved through the house and opened the front door. Outside he saw Lance and Pidge talking to each other. Whatever they were talking about stopped as soon as Lance looked up to see them. He ran over with a smile on his face.

“Hey! Is she your mom?” He looked down at her with a smile and she returned it if somewhat awkward. Pidge was right behind him a smile on her face as well.

“Yeah she is. She’s coming back to the castle with us too.” Keith explained.

“That’s great!” Lance looked at Raye with excitement. “I know you’ll love the castle. There’s tons of stuff to do.”

“Yeah that is until we get back and Allura kills us for leaving. Remember she said has a punishment waiting for us when we get back.” Pidge explained crossing her arms. Raye just looked up at Keith and asked he was being punished and who Allura was.

“Allura is a princess and own the castle. She basically tells us what to do. We… kinda disobeyed her when he stole Red to come find you so…” Raye just hums.

“Well whatever punishment she throws at you I can overrule it. I’m your mother, so it doesn't matter what she says. Those are the rules.” She smirked and it was easy to tell where his personality came from. “I’m excited to see this lion I’ve been hearing about! Where is it?”

“Oh she’s on the other side of this place. I can go get her and fly her over here! Of course I’m not sure if she could fit in this area…?” Lance looked around the small area. Even if Red could fit she wouldn’t be able to take off without damaging a few houses.

“You don’t have to do that. I can go with you guys through tow. Actually I would want to leave as soon as possible. As greatful as I am to their help, I've been on this moon for 18 years and it’s only slightly better than that desert planet. I’ve been dreaming of leaving this place.” It was supposed to be a lighthearted joke but they all knew that she was serious to some extent.

“There’s no one you say goodbye to first?” Pidge asked.

“No really. The Hesheens aren’t too kind to people who aren’t like them. I think they only helped me because of the shape I was in when they found me. I wasn’t a threat to them. They expected me to leave sooner or later anyway.” She shrugged unbothered by it. 

“I can help you pack anything you want to bring back with you.” Keith said.

“Oh, it just clothes I want to bring but I would appreciate it.” They went back into the house and Keith stopped her.

“Um when we went to the your ship on Xyran, I had my Pidge go in the ship to get the videos. While she was there thought she found this and gave it to me. I know it’s yours though.” He pulled out the ring and Raye’s face softened. She held out her hand and Keith placed it in hand gently. She looked at the ring with a sort of longing. She missed his dad. He knew she did. She pulled the chain over her head and smiled at him. 

“Thank you.” Her voice was gentle as she spoke before continuing on back to her bedroom to get her things. He knew it was going to take some time to get used to her being back in her life. It was going to be hard with how many feelings and issues he still had bottled up, but with the way she was treating him, like he hoped he would someday be treated like, he felt happy. He felt like she truly way going to stay with him and be there for him like a mom truly should. And one day, he thought, he could get over these jumbled emotions and just live with his mom normally. This was just the first step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not super satisfied with the ending but that's why I'm making a part two of this fic. To kinda fulfill the ending of this fic and continue Keith's journey of him reconnecting with his mom.  
> So if you're interested, keep a look out for that!


End file.
